


Ecosystem

by Mister_Rat



Category: Spyro the Dragon (Video Games)
Genre: Adopted Children, Alternate History, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Drabbles, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Cut Content, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Original Mythology, Original Worlds, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Reignited Trilogy, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:16:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22971619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mister_Rat/pseuds/Mister_Rat
Summary: A dragon that belongs to none of the five clans appears in Gnorc Gnexus.
Relationships: Asher/Eldrid, Astor/Original Female Character(s), Canon and Original Character(s)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is your friendly-universe rodent and I would like to welcome all of you to something that’s been cooking in my brain for a while.
> 
> Though I love the original Spyro trilogy and its Reignited remake, lore has always been one of my greatest weaknesses, so I just had to go digging around for some – and lo behold I stumbled across a Reddit post about the Machinists, a dragon group originally intended for the original Spyro games but cut out due to time constraints.
> 
> Then one idea led to another and well here we are. Enjoy!

_In an age beyond time, the world knew only chaos - for the world knew the elements that comprised it as powerful and masterless, all life left at the mercy of nature._

_But all changed when the Great Mother Serpent, wounded and ailing, descended from the Skylands to seek sanctuary for the unborn eggs upon her back. From these very eggs sprung forth the world’s first dragons, creatures of untold elemental prowess._

_Seeing the state of the planet, she used what remained of her strength and magic to teach her children how to tame the elements so they could ensure all living things existed in harmony._

_However, she did not take long to realize the different talents among the dragons and so chose six among them, one for each element save for darkness, to establish their own guilds and preserve an aspect of draconic culture in her stead._

_Ignitus, master of the arts and founder of the Artisans._

_Atma, oneiric sage and founder of the Dream Weavers._

_Volteer, scientific genius and founder of the -_

_Terrador, general of unrivaled courage and founder of the Peace Keepers._

_Cyril, mage of untold prowess and founder of the Magic Crafters._

_Agwé, shamaness of deepest wisdom and founder of the Beast Makers._

_Together, these six clans formed the Dragon Realms and the Great Serpent perished upon what would become Dragon Shores._

_As centuries passed, the presence of the guilds brought exactly what their Mother had desired - until one dragon, arrogant and cruel, chose tyranny over peace in belief that dragonkind deserved to rule rather than protect and left only destruction in his wake. With words of silk and desires of sin, he swayed many dragons to accept his poisonous thoughts._

_To remedy this nightmare, the Founders banded together and combined their powers to banish The Fallen One and his followers beyond the heavens, restoring balance and peace to the world._

_However, some legends speak of a seventh dragon chosen in secret long ago by the Great Mother Serpent, a hero of shadow to unite the Founders’ clans should The Fallen One ever rise again. Few believed such tales for they deemed the leaders enough, the Seventh Dragon nonsense, and the guilds’ bonds unshakable._

_History suggests otherwise._


	2. News of the Lost

Gnorc Gnexus.

Polluted, bleak, unwelcoming, downright foul.

Didn't help that this place had already been long abandoned by the dragons ages before Gnasty and his followers made it their home either, a fact that only added to the foreboding atmosphere. Unless you were a Gnorc yourself or had a seriously valid reason, no one in their right mind would _dare_ linger around in this literal trash heap of a realm, let alone visit it.

Turns out someone today had a seriously valid reason.

"We're lucky they gave us the okay to come here," a composed and somewhat deep female voice with a British-like accent commented, "even if only for a short time. This isn't dragon territory anymore after all."

"When was it eva'?" lazily asked a higher-pitched female voice tinged with a faint Brooklyn-esque accent. "Not even _you guys_ used this place much back then, right?"

A beat of silence passed save for the shifting waves until a deeper and gentler voice spoke up, this one male. "That's what we get for not taking care of this place…but at least the worlds here won't go to waste."

Even if the Gnorcs' lifestyle left much to be desired.

The male continued, solemn and apologetic yet with a wistful undercurrent. "I just wanted to see this place for myself. At least once."

He took in the rusting metal of looming dragon heads and creaking wood of old docks and felt the millennia of neglect engraved here. At last, he turned to his companions with a smile of gratitude. "Thanks for coming with me, you guys. I know being here's a big risk, but I appreciate you braving it for my sake."

British Voice returned the smile in full. "Of course, we would, Nico. We understand the significance this place holds for your people. We just didn't want anything happening to you."

Brooklyn Gal snickered. "You ain't exactly a stud muffin, after all."

Nico mumbled to himself in embarrassment at the jab. He could be tough when he wanted to be!

"Which he compensates for with his tools and intellect," British Voice gently admonished as she patted Nico's shoulder, "or may I recount to you, the innumerable times they've helped us – i.e. you – out of a bind?"

Touché. Brooklyn Gal mumbled in embarrassment with crossed arms and a pout.

"Anyway," British Voice firmly continued, "we'd better get going. It's clear by now he isn't coming."

Before the other two dragons could voice agreement, a shadow passed over them...

**XXX**

_A few hours later…_

"There's no way that's what happened, Spyro."

"Oh yeah? How would _you_ know?" a young purple dragon returned in a smarmy tone as he and his friend Elora walked down one of the cobbled pathways that snaked through the emerald-grass fields of the Artisan Homeworld. A tiny gold-glowing dragonfly named Sparx flittered in between them.

The red-furred faun rolled her eyes. "Because I was an eyewitness to most of it? Also, I don't think the monks appreciated that stunt your friends pulled."

Spyro blanched in record time. "Oh…heh. I guess you noticed that, huh?"

"With how little I could hear the Professor over the bloodcurdling screams echoing all over the mountains?" Elora arched a brow in dry amusement. "Yeah, kinda hard not to."

Sparx shot the drake a look full of 'I told ya so'.

Spyro rubbed one foreleg up against the other sheepishly as flashbacks of Bubba and Trondo's 'escapades' on the hockey rink in Colossus made him click his tongue in hesitation. "Yeah, Delbin and I told them to take it calm and easy with the hockey." He looked to the faun with an awkward grin. "They're not so good at calm and easy."

 _To say the least,_ Elora thought as she and Sparx shared a wince in empathy. Admirable as Spyro's attempts to keep the two macho dragons leashed had been, she felt the results were inevitable based on what little she heard about them. If anything, the incident just proved why the monks there shouldn't associate hockey with peace.

"I just hope you guys didn't get in too much trouble."

"Nah," Spyro gave an easy shrug, "Me and Delbin got off easy after I talked everyone down. Plus, Bubba and Trondo are banned from Colossus until 'further notice', which I'm pretty sure translates to 'until the end of time'" – Sparx bobbed his body up and down in a nod of agreement – "so it's safe to say we won't have to worry about an encore performance. 'Sides, I'm more worried on how _Nestor's_ gonna take this."

Hence why Delbin offered to go on ahead and tell the Artisan leader himself. Soften him up, so to speak.

Just then, something out of Elora's peripherals caused her to stop. "Something tells me he's not so worried about that anymore."

The faun pointed a finger to two elder dragons up ahead – Nestor and Delbin – locked in what seemed to be an intense conversation with a much shorter figure decked in aviator gear. Upon closer inspection, Spyro recognized the figure as the balloonist from Gnasty's World and who, judging by his wild hand gestures, seemed awfully worked up about something.

Curiosity gave way to concern when Delbin turned his head to reveal a worried frown.

Spyro shared a look with Elora and Sparx before nearing the adults with his trademark smile. "Hey guys! Everything cool here?"

Delbin turned at the voice and returned the grin (albeit halfheartedly). "Ah, Spyro! Everything is fine, it's just," the autumn painter hesitated for a moment until a confirming nod from Nestor settled his decision, "there's…someone exploring Gnorc Gnexus. Another dragon."

Hearing such news about the abandoned junkyard made the young dragon's head reel back in surprise. "Like on purpose?! Why?"

Nestor faced Spyro with an expression full of resignation - and perhaps a bit of hope? "We're not entirely sure ourselves. However, that's not our main concern for now." He gestured a hand to the balloonist. "Hak says he saw this one carrying around technology."

Spyro shared another look with his two companions, this one confused. He slowly asked, "And that's weird how?"

Sure, almost all the Dragon Realms leaned far towards more traditional items (medieval weapons and wands to name a few), but the Beast Makers had their electrical devices here and there. A dragon with something similar shouldn't be that off.

Hak fervently shook his head as though reading the young one's thoughts. "It wasn't just some little trinket like you'd see in Beast Makers, Spyro! This kid had screens of light popping up all around him," he held his hands up and wiggled his fingers in an excited fashion, "and with a wave of his fingers, too!"

Spyro and Elora balked at the descriptions!

"Screens of light?" the small drake gawked in wonder. "Like holograms?" He'd heard of and even been to worlds with stuff like that, but never in the Dragon Realms themselves. What kind of dragon did this guy see? Better yet, that raised another question. "Hang on, what were _you_ even doing at Gnexus?"

Dragons weren't the only ones who avoided that place, after all. Sure enough, Hak stammered for a moment, taken by surprise. "T-Trust me, Spyro, if not for that old mole guy that kept badgering me to take 'im there, I wouldn't've gone within a mile of that place. Paid me pretty darn well, too."

 _Old mole guy?_ Spyro mused in suspicion, _that can't be who I think it is…right?_

Thinking along similar lines, Elora abruptly raised her hands. "Back up! Did this person you took to Gnorc Gnexus wear glasses and a white lab coat by any chance?"

"Yeah!" Hak chirped with a snap of his gloved fingers, "A friend of yours?"

Both Spyro and Sparx's jaws dropped in disbelief while Elora gasped with a hand to her mouth! The _Professor_ had a part in this mystery too?! What the heck was going on here?

Nestor took the reins of the conversation. "You referred to this dragon as a 'kid'. Were they around Spyro's age?"

Hak registered the question and rubbed his nape thoughtfully. "I'd say he looked like a definite adult – older than Spyro for sure but nowhere near as old as you and Delbin here."

"He wasn't alone, right?" Delbin asked in a concerned tone edging towards outrage because the painter swore that if this Balloonist left that kid to fend for himself in such a place—

Hak held his hands up in frightful haste. "Whoa, easy! Harm's the last thing that'll come to 'im with those two lady dragons around, especially the pretty orange one that kept givin' me the stink eye. Probably shoulda' mentioned that first…"

Elora's eyes went wide. "Lady dragons? Your species _does_ have females out there then!" she exclaimed in an 'aha' tone before she turned to Spyro, hands akimbo. "How come I haven't seen any around?"

Spyro pursed his lips with an awkward 'um'. "I think it had something to do with the Sorceress sending us away long ago," he looked to the red and green elders for confirmation, "right?"

Nestor nodded. "When she spirited us from the Forgotten Worlds years ago, she'd only done so to any dragons identifying as male at that time while the rest wound up stranded onto _her_ side of the world." He shook his head ruefully. "They went missing for so long, we'd assumed the Sorceress got to them."

Elora cocked her head, curious. What did he mean by 'identifying' and 'at that time'?

"Until we got word a few weeks before Gnasty Gnorc made lawn sculptures out of us!" Delbin added in an excited tone. "A few of 'em even settled back in after Spyro got back from torchin' that troublemaking Ripto."

 _Hmm, makes enough sense_ , Elora mused as she put a hand to her chin.

The faun couldn't confirm Delbin's words in full since she hadn't been to the other Dragon Homeworlds yet. Cleaning up Avalar after Ripto's defeat had been no small task and so left her no opportunity to visit Spyro until the near end of the purple dragon's third adventure. Didn't help either that Hunter snuck off to help with the Year of the Dragon festival once the Professor fixed the portal to Dragon Shores.

Elora turned to Hak. "So, what kind of dragons did these women look like?"

"Definitely Artisan, one of 'em," the balloonist responded with a shrug, "The other looked Peacekeeper, not to mention ready to bomb my balloon outta boredom!" The man shivered at the memory.

Spyro held back a snicker at the latter description. This lady sure sounded like a bomb-wielding Peace Keeper he'd met himself. Relation perhaps?

Nestor kept a straight face in contrast. "As for the young man with them, what faction would you say _he_ seemed to belong to?"

For a long moment Hak went silent as he crossed his arms and cast his face downward with closed eyes. At last he spoke. "Unless he's some real tech-savvy Artisan, I can only assume the kid's one of those Ecologists from long ago, but I'd thought they all gone extinct at some point."

Spyro furrowed his brow. Ecologists: had he heard that term before? And if so where?

Nestor bit back a scoff. "No. They still very much thrive. I should know since Stone Hill has one leading it as we speak. In a sense," that last part he mumbled out of the corner of his mouth. Ignoring Hak's squawk of surprise and the hushed conversation between Spyro and his friends, he turned towards the portal in question and walked towards it.

"In fact, I'm quite certain he'd very much like to hear this."

**XXX**

"Yeah, not hearing it."

Of course not. Nestor held back a sigh as he stood within Lindar's clock shop, the clock-clad maya-blue dragon standing with his back to him, hands tinkering within the face of a grandfather clock.

Steadying his patience, the green carpenter softened his tone. "Lindar – "

"—gives no cares whatsoever," the horologist finished in a flippant, disinterested tone as he continued his work.

"Aren't you the _least_ bit curious about them?"

"Nope."

"Not even enough to meet some of them, get to know any of them?"

"Nope."

This time Nestor sighed at last. He figured the Stone Hill leader would prove this stubborn. The green dragon set his jaw, thinking of another angle. "It'd be a perfect opportunity to – "

"See all the wonderful and breathtaking inventions they've cooked up in their big nerdy heads and revel in their supreme braininess," Lindar sassed back. Not quite how Nestor would have phrased it but okay. "Yeah, hard pass."

A puff of frustrated smoke left the Artisan leader's nose as he ran a hand up his face, patience greatly tested. "Please. Not even once? They _are_ a part of your—"

Lindar's hand pushed down on the screwdriver it held so hard, the squeak of protest shocked Nestor more than the clockmaker's dangerously quiet tone did.

"No. They're. Not."

Oh dear. Nestor backed up and held his hands up in a placating manner, a gesture that seemed to be happening a lot today. He knew better than to push the clockmaker too far on this matter. Still, the Ecologists would no doubt visit this homeworld at some point; it wouldn't do to antagonize them.

"Will you at least mind your tongue around them in the event any arrive here?" the carpenter asked in exasperation.

Lindar paused this time, hands still. "...No promises."

 _Good enough_ , Nestor decided with an eyeroll as he finally departed from the clockshop. In truth, he felt some relief that the conversation ended on less of a sour note than expected. Other Artisans harbored similar sentiments about the far-removed clan and Nestor intended to notify them as well, but Lindar had a bad habit of letting his sharp tongue run ahead of his brain. It wouldn't do for everyone to start off on the wrong foot so quickly.

Speaking of foot…

The moment Nestor closed the door behind himself, the sound of loose stones being rustled drew his attention to a nearby well. He arched a brow and schooled a deadpan gaze. "You can all come out now."

At first nothing happened. Then some murmurs. At last a guilt faced Spyro, Sparx, and Elora edged out into view and gave the unimpressed elder nervous smiles.

"H-Hey Nestor!" Spyro greeted in an awkward tone, "Sooooo them Ecologists, huh?"

Nestor merely rolled his eyes as he faced the pair with crossed arms. He suspected Spyro would have done something like this (heck the Artisan leader would have almost been concerned if he hadn't), and Sparx by association, but the fact that the more responsible faun joined in took him for a loop.

Indeed, Elora set her hands behind herself in meekness and quickly bowed her head. "We're very sorry, Mr. Nestor, sir. We just didn't want to be kept in the dark about all this."

 _Fair enough_ , the dragon leader supposed, _someone might as well tell them_. He jerked his head towards the exit. "Come along then, you three. I'll catch you up to speed."

Despite being caught, Elora couldn't help but smile in intrigue as she and her friends followed Nestor back to the Artisan Homeworld.

Things just got interesting.


	3. Left in the Dark

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: Sorry for the long wait. Personal life and all that. Plus, I've been working on my designs for all the dragon OCs in this story (Dream Weavers are done by the way and are posted on my DeviantArt, FurAffinity and Weasyl - links are on my profile), so bear with me.

Plenty of words fit Spyro.

Where to start? Brave for sure. Reckless. Kind. Sassy definitely. Selfless. Mischievous. One could go on and on.

'Curious' applied here, though, because who could blame him? Not every day you got to find out about a long-lost dragon clan not being so lost anymore.

He and Elora were sitting with Nestor in a circle beneath a tree atop one of the grassy hills overlooking Sunny Flight's island and ocean, the distant sound of trains thrumming in the background. Sparx rested easy from his perch on Spyro's head, attentive and listening.

Nestor, seeing he had the young ones' focus, cleared his throat. "The Ecologists stand out amongst the other dragon clans in that they dabble in something the rest of us do not: technology. While we channel _our_ energy towards more traditional pursuits such as art and sorcery, they focus on progress by seeking not just knowledge but its proper application to benefit the world at large."

Progress and knowledge? Elora pursed her lips as these two words tumbled in her mind. "So, they're scientists just like the Professor."

Spyro nodded in agreement, way more than fascinated. Dragon scientists: now _there's_ a concept he wanted to sink his teeth into.

"In a general sense, yes," Nestor continued, "but much more than that. Their founder, Volteer," the green dragon gestured a hand to everything around them, "believed that all life connects. Our clans, the elements: no one truly stands alone. The Ecologists' way of life revolves around proving that very truth."

At Elora's puzzled face, Spyro chipped in. "Volteer's one of the guys that started the dragon guilds." While Sparx bobbed his head in confirmation, the small drake turned to his elder for the same. "Ours was Ignitus, right?"

 _Not bad,_ Nestor mused with a broad smile. "Good to see you haven't _completely_ shirked your history lessons." He spared a moment to relish in Spyro's indignant blush. "Correct, and it is thanks to the Ecologists that Volteer's philosophy survives to this day," his smile waned at this point, "albeit tenuously."

Oh boy. An uneasy look passed between Spyro and his friends. Here came the heart-wrenching part.

Elora's face softened. "Why 'tenuously'? What happened?"

A deep rueful sigh escaped Nestor. "Recall that a number of our own had been stranded in the Forgotten Worlds and we thought them to be lost. Turns out the Ecologists are the reason behind their survival." He turned to his son-figure. "Remember when Delbin stated how a few of the female dragons settled in after your second adventure, Spyro?"

At first the younger dragon scrunched his face in confusion. Yeah, he recalled but what did that have to do with - then the pieces suddenly locked into place and Spyro, wide-eyed in shock, gave Nestor an almost-hurt stare. "Hang on. Are you saying you guys _knew_ they'd be coming out of hiding?"

"Ever since the female Artisans told us, yes." Nestor had the decency to look apologetic and bow his head. "My apologies Spyro. It's not that we believed you had no right to know. It's rather that the five clans' history with the Ecologists is…strenuous at best, and we feared you being ashamed of us. Not that it stopped you from asking about this before."

Spyro's face twisted at the latter admission. "When did I…," a certain memory returned and his eyes flashed in clarity, "oh."

Nestor gently pat the smaller drake's shoulder. "Not a surprise you only remember now. You _were_ quite young at the time."

**XXX**

_"Spyro."_

_The tiny purple troublemaker went stone rigid at the familiar voice and the even more familiar tone of disappointment, the golden dragonfly hovering close by starting as well. With dread the pair slowly shifted around to face a stern-faced Nestor, the emerald dragon's hands akimbo to emphasize his paternal disapproval._

_"So not only are you up past your curfew; you're also sneaking in late night snacks."_

_Crud. Spyro eyed the half-finished peanut butter cookie in his hand and grinned sheepishly. Maybe sparing a moment to sneak into the kitchen hadn't been so smart after all. "I just wanted to look up something Argus told me about, and I didn't wanna wait 'til tomorrow!"_

_Huh, that was a new excuse. Nestor blinked in wonderment before he at last noticed the open book on the table behind Spyro. A miracle the young one managed to get it there despite his diminutive size. The green elder drew closer for a better look and smirked in amusement. "Hmm. How oddly studious of you, Spyro."_

_Indeed, Argus' history lessons stood far from the top of Spyro's favorites list on account of their dryness and the younger dragon's abysmally short attention span. To be fair, though, the rotund scholar at least lacked Astor's habit of droning on and on. Mother Serpent knew Spyro (or anyone for that matter) could never weather that._

_"Regardless, I rather you_ did _wait until tomorrow." Nestor crossed his arms. "You know sleep takes priority."_

_Ugh lame! Spyro deflected his eyes and shuffled his feet with a pout. "I just wanted to find out about the lightning dragons."_

_Lightning dragons? Nestor examined the book even further and fell headfirst into surprise. "Spyro…," he inquired in a soft wondering tone, "is this what Argus showed you?"_

_The tiny reptile made eye contact and shrugged as he turned back towards the book. "All I did was flip through while he talked and find this. The picture looked super cool, so I showed it to him!" He pointed out a stylized pinwheel that took up both pages, composed of six serpentine dragons reaching towards a purple dot in the center, each a color in clockwise order: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, and blue. "But then he said something really weird."_

_"And it was…?" Nestor trailed off in an anticipating voice as he pulled out and took a seat in the chair next to Spyro._

_"That each dragon here stands for a clan." Spyro pointed his finger to each hue as he pointed them out one by one. "Red's for us, orange is the dream guys, green's for Mr. Titan and his cool friends, light blue's the magic dudes, and plain blue is for those guys in the swamps…so who's yellow?"_

_For a moment, the older reptile seemed as though he might gloss over the question. Instead, he heaved a breath full of resignation and understanding. "That would be the Ecologists."_

_Even though Spyro could not fathom the full depth of the emotions crossing Nestor's face, he could tell even at such a young age that something about this mysterious clan upset the elder dragon. Greatly._

_"Nestor. Were the Ecola…Ecalo…"_

_Despite the situation, Nestor smiled at the youth's attempt at proper enunciation. "Ecologist."_

_Spyro settled for a nod. "Were they bad people?"_

_Nestor spared a moment to ponder over his next words. At last he leaned back in his chair. "Have you ever heard the expression 'there's a bad apple in every bunch?'"_

_The annoyed eyeroll from Spyro said everything. "How can I not? Oswin says it aaaallll the time."_

_A strange expression crossed Nestor's face. Not one of surprise, more like…expectant but kind of nervous too? Spyro couldn't tell for sure. But hey at least Nestor took mercy on him by using an adage the younger drake could understand._

_"So, you're saying a bad Ecologist ruined everything for the good Ecologists, right?"_

_"To put it lightly. The sad part is that whole group took the blame for that single dragon's actions."_

_Wh-What?! Spyro reared his head back, gobsmacked for a moment, before crying out in outrage, "That's not fair!"_

_Oh fudge. His mouth clamped shut at once upon realizing he just yelled at Nestor! Okay he hadn't yelled out of anger at the older green dragon himself but still, the last time he'd done that resulted in a straight trip to the paddle._

_On the contrary, Nestor did not take offense. Rather the man gave an understanding chuckle. "You're right, Spyro. That's not fair at all, especially since the rest of us dragons were just as guilty."_

_'Rest of us'? Spyro cocked his head and knitted his brows, not sure if he'd like the incoming answer._

_"The one responsible went by the name of Malefor. Once a kind and powerful leader to the Ecologists, he inspired not just dragons but people all over the Realms with his genius and good deeds. For that reason, all the guilds praised him to no end. However, people fell in love with him so much few noticed how far he was going to satisfy his curiosity."_

_At this point, Nestor stood up and approached some nearby shelves to peruse their books with a finger, no specific book in mind but rather to keep his hands active. He never enjoyed being still for long, much like Spyro._

_"No one knows the real reason he went down the path he did, but none could deny he went off the deep end: going too far with his experiments, dabbling in forbidden magic, stealing innocent people from their homes to use them as test subjects. He kept all these misdeeds secret from even his own people—and once his actions finally came to light and the leaders banished him…"_

_Nestor shook his head with a sigh of disgust. "People tend to place blame on others when things go wrong, regardless of whether those others deserve blame or not." He turned to Spyro with a face full of regret. "The Ecologists faced…bullying, to say the least. Badly enough that they had to go into hiding just to escape it all." The elder averted his eyes, voice heavy with pity and shame. "No one has heard from them since."_

_Tears did not come often to Spyro, and even when they did the young drake always made a point to brush them away. After hearing a story like that, he couldn't help the misty sheen coating his eyes._

_"They're still okay, right?"_

_Nestor smiled as he sat back down and placed a hand on the young one's tiny back. For all his mischief and bravado, Spyro possessed a kind heart. "The Ecologists were always known for their critical thinking and ingenuity." The green dragon made a face as he realized his wording and rephrased it before Spyro could ask. "Basically, they know how to think their way out of problems."_

_That last sentence inspired a small yet crooked grin from Spyro after he wiped his eyes. "Like me?"_

_A good-natured scoff escaped the taller reptile. "In certain aspects, I'm sure. They had a strong sense of responsibility as well. Such as, say, knowing when to go to bed on time?"_

_Little Spyro rolled his eyes at the not at all transparent words. He knew when to take a hint. "OK, fine."_

**XXX**

This same story Nestor relayed to Elora, Spyro adding his two cents as the faded memory returned to him. By the end, the faun smiled at how her friend ended off the recounted memory. However, that smile proved short-lived once she registered the pensiveness on both dragons' faces.

"Malefor."

A shiver went down the faun's spine from speaking that name, filling Elora with fear far beyond anything Ripto ever managed. However, the more she mulled over the situation, the more righteous anger bubbled to the surface. "…so, they had to live with the fallout of _his_ actions all this time and got treated like villains for it? Spyro's right, that _is_ unfair! They had to have proven themselves if the dragons that came back are willing to put in a good word for them."

The faun banged a fist against her knee as she spoke, the sight of such righteous anger inspiring an empathetic half-smile from Nestor. No wonder Spyro befriended her.

"You are correct," the Artisan leader agreed, "What's more, the rest of us dragons have our own atonement to answer for. Not only did the rest of our clans play a part in Malefor's corruption, we denied this truth and turned our backs on the Ecologists to preserve our own pride."

"So…how are we gonna go about all this atonement stuff then?" Spyro inquired.

Nestor set his jaw in a rare moment of self-consciousness. "In full honesty, Spyro, that plan remains in…development, although I _do_ have a few ideas on how we could get started. In the meantime, you should speak with the female Artisans and hear of their experiences with the Ecologists so that you'll have a better grasp of the situation."

Sounded like a good idea to Spyro. It'd be a great chance to know those ladies better anyway. Sudden buzzing drew his attention to his dragonfly companion, who zipped off his head and 'whispered' into his ear. Once the insect finished, Spyro's attention shifted to Elora. "Sparx says you might wanna check with the Professor and see how he figures into all this, too."

Elora set her hands akimbo with a determined smile. "Way ahead of you, Sparx."

After all, the elder man couldn't have met the Ecologists (let alone any dragons at all) before Spyro. Nor did he mention anything to that effect after the Ripto incident. In short, that old man better prepare himself for a full-speed interrogation.

Seeing this conversation reach a natural endpoint, Nestor stood up and dusted himself off. "In that case, we'd best be getting back. You have a lesson with Tomas in five minutes, Spyro. Miss Elora, I will ask Marco to fly you back to Dragon Shores if his schedule permits."

Spyro cocked his head, curious. "And what about you?"

"I'm going to send a message to the other guild leaders. We have some" – Nestor paused with a thoughtful hum and briefly averted eyes – "brainstorming to do."

 _Assuming the other leaders give their support_ , he silently added with a drop of wariness.


	4. Between Leaders

A few days after Hak's encounter with the three dragons and Nestor's crash course with Spyro and his friends, the five Realm leaders sat around a sizable wooden table within the cavernous meeting room of Stone Hill Castle. The signature tools of each attendant – a hammer, battle axe, ornate staff-wand, tribal walking staff, and cauldron of pink rock salts – lay against the wall at the back of the room.

"I can't believe you all agreed to this."

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it."

Cosmos eye-rolled at his Peace Keeper counterpart's nonchalant retort.

To spare everyone's sanity, Nestor cleared his throat before the wizard could fire a quip of his own. "You know as well as the rest of us that we must reestablish connections with the Ecologists. Considering how long they've been out of the loop, it's only fair their leader come here so they can acquaint themself with us."

Especially since Nestor had been the one to send said leader an open invitation after a majority vote among him and the other leaders the other day.

Cosmos scoffed at the Artisan's preposterous words. "Reacquaint. Even you should be questioning the validity of allowing one of those _heretics_ to participate in this meeting, Nestor. Are we truly deigning to associate with them as if what happened millennia ago never happened?"

A faint growl echoed within Bruno's throat in response, only to quiet down at the gentle feel of the Dream Weaver leader's hand on his speckled shoulder.

"Keep in mind, Cosmos," Lateef admonished with trademark zen, "Just as we have had time to form assumptions of them, so have they unto us. It is in the interest of us all to help dispel toxic notions on both sides. Besides, let us not forgot that all our clans share a piece of the blame."

"Plus, there's the benefits of getting a scientist clan on our side," Titan added with arms crossed on the table. A frustrated frown followed suit. "I don't know about you guys, but me and the other Peace Keepers are getting pretty sick of having to play keep up with all these enemies having more up-to-date weaponry than us."

Nestor hummed in agreement. "Then we must do our best to ensure that their leader feels welcomed. It's the least we can do on behalf of our realms after all."

Lateef nodded; Cosmos rolled his eyes (again); Bruno huffed tersely; Titan shrugged.

 _Good enough,_ the Artisan relented. He could just hope this consensus would endure to the meeting's end.

As if in tune with his thoughts, a light-blue glowing portal materialized before the group, startling enough that Lateef and Nestor had to restrain Cosmos and Titan from jumping up and reaching for their weapons. Bruno furrowed his brow at the telltale crackle of electricity and lack of magical energy. Tech for a grand entrance instead – he'd expected as much.

From the miasma of energy emerged a dragon none expected.

Arms behind their back, their body structure resembled Cedric of the Magic Crafters except vaguely blocky, black scales contrasting against the deep green underbelly, wing membranes, question mark-shaped tail tuft, and eyes. White angular horns ran backward then away from each other above the low bun at which their dark green hair ended. Their facial features resembled Lindar's due to the narrow snout yet without a sharp divot on the upper lip and with a small nose horn. Finally, their clothing consisted of a deep red business jacket and white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a matching maroon bowtie.

The Ecologist leader had arrived.

Without a word, the newcomer took easy casual steps towards the table, their eyes subtly taking in the other leaders, as the portal shrunk out of existence behind them with a twinkle. Once they reached the table, the dark dragon opened their mouth – and sneezed. All over Cosmos.

"Ugh, sorry for that," the dragon spoke in an apologetic tone that revealed a strong feminine voice, right hand in front of their mouth, as the sea-foam wizard hastily conjured a cloth and wiped himself off in frantic disgust. "One of my coworkers was in the middle of a botanical experiment involving pollen when I was passing by and forgot to lower the dome all the way. The excitement of an experiment bearing results will do that to you."

Um okay. Nestor cleared his throat before standing up and extending a hand in welcome. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance, Elder...?"

"Sofia," the dragoness replied as she revealed her left forearm – a metal one to everyone's shock – and returned Nestor's greeting with a firm grip. "And likewise. Now," she retreated her hand to gesture the palm outward in a genial fashion, "I believe some reciprocation is in order."

Nestor chuckled politely. This newcomer did not miss a beat, did she?

"Of course," he patted his own chest, "I am Nestor, leader of the Artisans." One by one, he gestured to each of his peers. "This is Titan, commander of the Peace Keepers. The shorter fellow next to him is Bruno, who presides over the Beast Makers. The one you just sneezed on is Cosmos, head of the Magic Crafters. And that is Lateef, leader of the Dream Weavers."

Sofia bent down in a respectful curtsy. "It is an honor to meet all of you."

Cosmos narrowed his eyes, scooching a little farther away from their guest lest he catch any more spittle. "I didn't expect your guild remained capable of magic."

Undoing the gesture, Sofia blinked at Cosmos before realization flashed in her eyes. "Oh no, that wasn't magic but rather teleportation technology. Usually it would have been more instantaneous, but I had to do some portal-hopping until it was within range of where Nestor said the meeting would take place in his letter. If any of you gentlemen need a demonstration to better understand what I mean, I'd be more than happy to –"

"No, no, that's alright," Lateef assured with a gentle chuckle as he held up his hand, "what matters is we are all present – and now that we are, we would like your input on the Ecologists' reintegration with the rest of the Dragon Realms."

The dark dragoness averted eye contact in brief embarrassment before clearing her throat and sitting down between Cosmos and Bruno, Nestor doing the same so the meeting could start at last.

Nothing eventful followed afterwards. Just discussions regarding the Ecologists' current situation and what Sofia and her guild intended to do moving forward, along with a few questions and suggestions about resources and the scattered dragon residents' reunions. That is until the meeting concluded, and everyone got up to leave, when Cosmos noticed a detail on Sofia's person that he hadn't before.

"A rather _odd_ choice of apparel for someone of your profession and status, don't you think?"

When Sofia turned to him in confusion, the wizard curtly jerked his head downward. The dragoness turned her eyes that same way until she realized he had referred to her wrist – to be more specific a rainbow bracelet with white plaid interlace.

"Oh. Oh!" Sofia blushed. "Just something an apprentice of mine made a long time ago." She held her wrist up and gave the article a fond gaze. "I've had it with me for so long, sometimes I forget I'm even wearing it."

An apprentice? Made _that_? For their mentor, no less?

Cosmos felt a weird feeling in the pit of his gut take shape and absolved to bury it down as much as possible. However, before he could open his mouth for a saucy comment, somebody elbowed past the sea-green reptile. Titan eyed the bracelet and gave Sofia his classic toothy smile.

"Aww, reminds me of the little wooden weapons the trainees make for me and the other veterans." He widened his grin even more, still genuine. "Kid must think pretty highly of you, huh?"

Blushing harder now, Sofia sidled her eyes away with a flattered face.

Cosmos rolled his eyes. Of course, this upstart would make instant friends with the heretic. For someone who headed a group charged with defending the Dragon Realms, Titan had no issue with being chummy towards someone he just met, never mind that person's reputation. Didn't help that Nestor and even Bruno seemed to warm up to this cad as well within five sentences of speaking to her one-on-one.

"There is no shame in empathy, my friend."

Cosmos stiffened up in alarm and shot his head around to discover Lateef suddenly beside him, the monk schooling his usual calm and all-knowing demeanor. When the elder reptile's words hit him at last, Cosmos puffed up like an insulted peacock and turned his head away in dramatic stubbornness.

"Please," he hissed at low volume, "empathy requires having something in common and I assure you that I have nothing – read my lips, _nothing_ – in common with that – that—" Cosmos gesticulated with helpless hands in a vain attempt to get something, _anything_ , out regarding that woman!

A few minutes into the mini-show and Lateef could tell his fellow elder didn't have a metaphorical leg to stand on. Cosmos, despite his pride, realized the same and so resorted to the only other solution that he knew: cross his arms, pout, and pretend Lateef had nothing on him.

Decent attempt but Lateef knew that trick all too well.

"It is not as though anyone is asking you to fall in love with her. If you do not like her, then you do not like her. All I suggest is that you not be so quick to extend the way you view the Ecologists towards yourself as well."

When Cosmos looked to him in utter perplexity, Lateef held back the urge to chuckle. "It isn't healthy to bury your emotions, let alone from yourself. Take the time to sit down and analyze why you feel the way you do. You may have an easier time seeing the truth afterwards."

And with that, Lateef departed to sit back in his seat and watch the other leaders in their burgeoning conversation with Sofia, leaving the wizard to ruminate over his words.

**XXX**

_Ah, it feels good to be home._

With this thought, Sofia sighed as she traversed a long white hallway laden with neon blue lights in the ceiling. That meeting went as productive as predicted. Hopefully, the other leaders would take what she shared into consideration.

As she mulled today over, the black dragoness reached a pair of neon-circuited doors accompanied by a biometric scanning pad on the left. Pressing her hand to the pad, she willed the doors to slide open and entered a massive lowly-lit monitor room. The left wall boasted rows upon rows of computer screens along its length, a long and curved desk in front with computers of its own and comfy black dragon-sized office chairs; the right wall a coffee counter in the middle with beanbag chairs of various colors off to the right and doors to the unisex restrooms to the left; and the middle a floor-to-ceiling window giving a beautiful view of the beach bordering the Ecologist Homeworld.

Sofia's eyes scanned the room. Hmm, nobody here. Could her assistant be running late?

"Miss Sofia!"

Ah never mind. She turned at the younger-sounding voice. From the restrooms approached a shorter chubby hornless orange dragon with a soft sepia underbelly and wing membranes, and short brushed-back dark brown hair, wing frames, and star-shaped tail fin. He sported a russet jacket with lighter-hued edges around the wrists, neck, and waist. A clipboard lay in his hands.

Sofia acknowledged the youth with a warm smile. "Nicolas. Anything to report?"

The young adult perused his clipboard. "Systems are all up, no malware detected so far, all upgrades on schedule," he lifted his brown eyes with a grin of fond exasperation, "and I think someone tried to snatch up your piece of strawberry cheesecake again, judging by Franz's expression when I caught him in the kitchen."

 _Of course._ The Ecologist leader rolled her eyes. "That man, I swear," she murmured in resignation. "Speaking of Franz, are his sister and the Professor still in the middle of their analysis on those tablets from Desert Ruins?"

"As a matter of fact, they just messaged in and said they've already finished! The report should be in the cloud storage by now." Nicolas earned a grateful smile from his senior and perked in humble pride. "By the way, how did the meeting go?"

Sofia pursed her lips in thought. "Hmm. Informative. The other Leaders are…an interesting bunch to say the least." _And strong-willed, too_ , she mentally added. That trait would no doubt complicate certain discussions in the future. "All the more reason for us to be thankful things went smoother than I expected."

"Then it sounds like your plan to make contact with the rest of dragonkind is working so far."

"We're fortunate the Professor agreed to it, despite knowing us for such a short time." Let alone considering the burden the elder mole no doubt shouldered by associating with a group as shunned as theirs. The black dragoness had feared her request would be too much. "We originally intended to send one of our own alongside one of the other clans' female dragons as a messenger."

Nico cocked his head out of interest. "In that case, why didn't you go down that route? You know we've made friends among the ones the Sorceress stranded here. They would've vouched for us."

Many of them already have by now, no doubt, Sofia knew. Even so she shook her head. "I know. I just...want to ease our way into things. It'd been so long since we interacted with the other guilds in their entirety. It's also why I allowed you to be our ambassador in a sense." The older dragon tousled Nico's hair with a chuckle. "Who could ever distrust a face like that?"

Hearing that made Nicolas hunch in self-consciousness. He hadn't needed to be the one the Professor had to contact either, so he felt relief that he carried out his role as intended. "Thank you for letting me go to Gnorc Gnexus, by the way, Miss Sofia. I know I must have really worried you and Uncle with my request to meet the Professor there, even with Miss Eleanor and Kazue tagging along."

Sofia smiled maternally. There never passed a day where she and the other Ecologists did not worry over their young ward who had grown and grown over the years. "We can't keep you sheltered forever. You had every right to see our former home – well, _one_ of our former homes – for yourself."

Nico returned the smile in appreciation.

"Now then, could you message the Professor back and ask him to meet me and your uncle at the bridge this evening? I'd like to hammer out an arrangement for a portal from here to Avalar." That way the elderly mole wouldn't have to travel here all the way from Dragon Shores anymore. Nico nodded in affirmation. "Thank you."

Just before the younger dragon could turn and leave, a light gasp left Sofia. "Oh, before I forget, there's more one detail I need to mention. The Artisan leader and I had a long talk after the meeting about an idea he ran by us, one I've been considering myself."

Nico craned his head forward without invading his Elder's space, curious. "Really? What was the idea?"

A knowing smile took over Sofia's snout. "Tell me, Nico. How does a trip to the Artisan Realm sound?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference pictures of my OCs:
> 
> Artisans - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs
> 
> Peace Keepers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs
> 
> Magic Crafters - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs
> 
> Ecologists - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs
> 
> Beast Makers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs
> 
> Dream Weavers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs


	5. Tell Me More

“Oh, aren’t you just the most precious little thing!”

Okay, when Spyro told Nestor he wanted to get to know the female Artisans, this wasn’t what he had in mind.

The drake had just entered Astor’s home – Alban directed him here after one of his godforsaken calligraphy lessons– when this old lady came down upon him like the grim reaper’s grandmother.

His poor cheeks were currently at the mercy of an old carnelian dragon with a raspberry underside, medium pink wing membranes, darker raspberry for the spine ridges running from head to tail and three pentagonal spots on each deltoid, gray hair–on the top in a granny bun, slightly thick eyebrows, and as a tuft on the tip of her tail—and curvy white horns reminiscent of Tomas’ with much smaller ones in front. Her clothing consisted of a violet blue overall apron and arm sleeves, and a pair of black-framed square glasses.

And holy fudge did this lady have a grip!

“Uh, thansh?” Spyro eyed Sparx out of his peripherals in desperation. The dragonfly merely shook his head in both bemusement and speechlessness, just as beside himself. It was clear neither of them had been prepared for this.

To Spyro’s fortune, the older reptile took notice and thus released the boy with a fond chuckle that exposed her snaggletooth. “My apologies, dearie! The idea of getting to meet you has been on my mind ever since Astor and Nessie and everyone else sent me all those letters about you!”

 _‘Nessie’._ PFFFFT. How Spyro and Sparx managed to keep straight faces, the world would never know.

“Ah, that’s right, how rude of me! My name is Amanda; I'm Astor's wife and Nestor's stepmother!” With her intro out of the way, she started to gently herd Spyro and Sparx into her and Astor’s living room. “Come along, come along now! Here I am smothering you while the others are dying to meet you!”

“There’s a gross overstatement,” a dry kind of squawky voice quipped somewhere to Spyro’s left the moment they entered.

Out of the kitchen to the left stepped out a tall, slim yellow dragoness with light cream for the underbelly and front of her muzzle, a darker yellow for the wing frame, wavy head horns like Nevin’s, a tinier horn on the nose and three each running along her jaw, mottled pale-yellow spots along her back, and a pencil-like yellow cone with a darker tip at the end of her tail. Her dark green/green clothing consisted of an Inverness cape, ascot, belt, and studded wristbands.

She schooled the younger dragon before her with a cool smirk. “Personally speaking, your preceding reputation sounds like more entertainment than I need in one lifetime, but if it’s any consolation – OOF!”

“Be nice.”

The reproach and accompanying elbowing came from an orange dragoness with a body shape like Tomas’ (albeit somewhat slimmer) and yellow-orange underbelly. Dark red colored her short wavy hair, freckles, and wing membranes as well as her sparse tail-mane and trio of spots on each outer thigh, orange her wing frames. Her angular off-white horns formed a diamond shape while her same-colored tail club resembled a rounded marquise gem, three horns on each side of her head as well except on the cheeks. Her periwinkle blouse contrasted well against both her medium-blue sleeveless Victorian-style vest and its dark-blue buttons and stripes and the single-eyed black loupe around her neck.

“Don’t mind Carmen, Spyro,” she assured him. Her British-accented voice was quite prominent. “She’s perhaps been the most excited out of all of us to meet you; she just doesn’t want to admit it. Mother Serpent knows how her husband Devlin and brother Nevin deal with her.” She ignored Carmen’s indignant huff as she put a hand to her own chest with a smile. “My name’s Eleanor. You know my fiancé, Gavin. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you!”

Spyro returned the smile. “Nice to meet ya, too! This here’s my good buddy, Sparx!” The golden dragonfly offered a happy welcoming buzz in turn. “So, since the gang’s all here, what you ladies got planned?”

Amanda clapped her hands in eagerness. “Ah, I knew my silly self was forgetting something!” She gestured everyone to follow her as she moved to step out the back door. “This way, everyone!”

Moments later, all of the group except Amanda sat in white wicker chairs on the house’s backdoor veranda, the eldest reptile having gone back inside to fetch some cherry lemonade while the others conversed, Carmen and Amanda answering whatever questions Spyro and Sparx had on their minds.

“So, you’re some kind of detective?”

“Private investigator, in fact. It’s essentially the same occupation except I’m not restricted by affiliation with law enforcement.” At Spyro’s blank stare, Carmen held back a sigh. “I get to solve crimes however I want.”

“Cool! Do you ever get to see any crime scenes? Robberies, car chases, murders? What about going undercover?”

A cocky chuckle met these inquiries. “All that and more, my boy. Of course, don’t go expecting anything of _that_ level of excitement once we’re properly situated into Nestor’s lesson schedule.”

Oh right, Spyro realized with a cringe. He hadn’t considered that. A hand atop his head eased his concerns before they could bum him out.

Eleanor spoke up. “Don’t worry, Spyro. We Artisan ladies have a little more sense when it comes to teaching others.”

That and Amanda gave Nestor and even Astor a chew-out once they shared their approach in teaching Spyro. Not that said approach had been _completely_ wrong since the men had been teaching the boy necessary lessons; rather that every single Artisan got shoehorned into the role of teacher.

Because _Alvar_? Not with that temper.

“Is that your way of saying your lessons are gonna be more fun?”

Carmen rolled her eyes. “If by ‘fun’ you mean ‘less likely to lose your attention 10 seconds in’, then yes.” Her lips curled into a sardonic smile. “Though compared to the likes of say Argus, I doubt watching out for such will prove _that_ difficult.”

The muted clink of drowned ice cubes against the inner walls of glass drew attention to Amanda, who emerged right then with four tall, chilled glasses of the promised coral beverage. She even brought a saucer filled with the same fruity goodness for Sparx. After a round of thanks and minute or two passed via sips, Spyro seized opportunity to learn more.

“Okay, so Carmen’s here a private investigator. Nice. What do _you_ guys do then?”

Amanda and Eleanor shared a debating look before the latter, out of politeness, gestured her elder to go first.

“I’m a toymaker. Puppets, dolls, wooden trains, the occasional spy device. Nothing too spectacular.” The blissful senior ignored everyone’s (Spyro’s and Sparx’s in particular) weirded-out stares as she took another taste of her drink. “It’s a deep shame I missed your infancy though, Spyro. It would’ve been such a delight to spoil you back then.”

Spyro held back a blush, ignoring Sparx’s amused snicker, but still smiled. As embarrassing as that sounded, he had to admit a certain appeal to having someone shower him with that kind of affection.

Not that Nestor and the others skimped on showing how much they cared. For as long as he could remember, Spyro knew they all did their best to raise him right and ensure not just his future but his happiness as well. Heck, even all those lessons, frustrating and boring as they could be, were sheer proof.

It just...it just seemed as though Spyro always found a way to screw things up, almost like Fate ordained him to be nothing short of a disappointment. Because he _tried,_ he tried to do right by his guardians, show them he could be as great as them, the people who cared for and put up with him for so long. Over and over, only to fail again and again for one reason or another.

Thinking about all that started to put the little dragon into a funk he’d rather avoid right now. He didn’t want to give these ladies the impression they were stuck with some perpetual mope. Fortunately for him, Amanda chose that time to speak up.

“Well now, Ellie dear. I believe that’s all on my end; the floor belongs to you now.”

“Oh right!” The tangerine dragon cleared her throat. “I myself am a jeweler. Brooches, necklaces, watches, earrings, anything you can add on to look nice: if it needs making or fixing, you can always rely on me.”

Spyro cocked his head in interest. “Basically, if I want any bling-bling, you’re the gal to see.”

Eleanor gave an amused half-smile. “Basically yes. Speaking of which,” she took another brief take of her drink, “I recommend being at your best for your next lesson, seeing as it will be with me.”

“What, are you like super-hard or something?”

Noting the boy’s somewhat nervous tone, Eleanor smirked. “Not _super_ hard. Just super hard-working. In short, don’t expect to get away with slacking under my...,” she paused for dramatic effect, “ _watch_.”

Her audience stared back in silence. Carmen and Spyro decided against pointing out how it qualified more as a Lindar-pun than an Eleanor-pun. Speaking of whom, the dragoness sighed with a sag once she caught on that her joke fell flat. Amanda pat the younger dragon’s back out of comfort.

“Since we’re on the topic of lessons,” Carmen spoke up after she drained the last of her drink, “Nestor brought to our attention that there’s been a marked change in how you’ve been approaching your lessons as of late. He even went so far to call it an improvement of sorts.”

Spyro furrowed his brow. “Like what?”

“More confidence. Less of a tendency to give up in frustration when what you do doesn’t proceed as planned.” Granted, there had still been mishaps (this _was_ Spyro after all) but overall, the little drake pushed forward with more purpose than before according to the reports.

“Oh, that! Heh, I guess having to go on an epic world-saving adventure does wonders for self-esteem.” Sparx rolled his eyes at his friend’s bravado. Not that Spyro didn’t have a point but still.

“Don’t misinterpret that I’m not happy for this development in your growth, but that brings up a point I’ve been meaning to ask you ever since Nestor and the others told the story to us: how _did_ you manage to not get caught up in the blast?” Gnasty managed to entrap very adult dragon present in the Dragon Realms with his spell. Did Spyro squeak through because of his size?

The purple dragon waned in his smile. “I sort of figured Gnasty didn’t bother cuz he didn’t think I’d be much of a threat.”

Not too out of character for the Gnorc leader. Regardless, Carmen felt dissatisfied with that explanation.

Eleanor butted in before the yellow dragon could bombard the boy with any further questions. “All the same, you deserve credit for going as far as you did to help the others. I’m just glad the spell didn’t prevent them from being able to speak with you.”

“Yeah about that. Nobody ever explained anything to me about that spell Gnasty used, I think mostly cuz they didn’t quite get how it worked either.”

Eleanor rolled her eyes once she noticed Carmen perk up at this ‘prime opportunity’ to show off. Oh, sweet Mother Serpent. Better get comfortable for this one.

“Allow me to explain then! Essentially what you freed were their souls and minds. Think of them as ghosts of people who hadn’t died yet – they were still alive but phased through everything in the physical world while their bodies remained in a magical subspace contained to those platforms you found them on. Usually, such an advanced spell can only end for real if the original caster either undoes it or is soundly defeated.”

Okay wow. That was a bit to take in.

Regardless, Spyro and Sparx shared a look of mild understanding. They well remembered the terror from seeing Nestor’s hand phase through Spyro’s head in a denied attempt at comfort. Ghosts but not ghosts, huh? That _would_ explain why all the adult dragons couldn’t tag along with them at the time, let alone why they always shimmered away once they got done talking to Spyro.

Although that begged another question, one Carmen predicted without flaw.

“And just to save your breath, I can also verify that despite his intentions, Gnasty clearly lacked the know-how for the spell to restrict his targets’ movements all the way. Though the other dragons were still prisoners in a sense, your efforts granted them mobility in the spiritual realm. In most cases, that would be all one could do in such a state, but since we dragons are magical beings by nature and they were full grown no less, they had enough power to alter their prisons’ positions as well.”

Which given how far the Dragon Realms in general are from Gnorc Gnexus, could not have been an easy feat for any of them, even the Magic Crafters. That just went to show their urgency to ensure Spyro as much heads-up as possible before facing Gnasty.

Spyro blinked, eyes wide in awe. “Whoa, that’s kinda wild. But...wait. How do _you_ know about all this stuff? No offense but you’re not a Magic Crafter.”

Carmen smirked. “A truly effective investigator must be as well-rounded as possible in their knowledge. Even the smallest or most seemingly insignificant detail can overturn a case after all!”

Made sense, made sense. Spyro pursed his lips.

“Okay...then how come only _Sparx and I_ could free everybody?”

That. That was a good question. For once, Carmen found herself at a loss for words, tail tip curling inward from reluctant uncertainty.

Once again, Eleanor came to the rescue. “You know what, Spyro? It’s fine if we can’t figure the answer to that out. What matters is that you took a stand and saved the day when no one else could! Few dragons can say they did that, let alone at your age!”

Even though Sparx could see the obvious change in subject, the clear boost to Spyro’s self-esteem in the small dragon’s smile and posture made the dragonfly appreciate the dragoness’s save. Plus, she had a point; no point in worrying over how you pulled something off if it helped everybody in the end.

“I’m just glad you ladies weren’t around to get caught in Gnasty’s spell-happy spree yourselves.” That did not look fun for Nestor and the guys.

Amanda chuckled. “Only because we were still helping the Ecologists pan out some details. Otherwise, we would have settled back with everyone else ages ago and very well have been our own decorations.” She noticed Spyro arch a brow in interest. The elder dragon wagged a finger. “Now, now. We can’t spoil _all_ the details; you’d still like to be surprised, wouldn’t you?”

Way to keep someone in suspense. Spyro sagged, mindful not to spill his drink. “Ah c’mon! Not even a _little_ hint?”

For a moment, Amanda seemed as though she would confirm as much – except a look from the two other lady dragons gave her pause. With a creak, she eased herself out of the chair and polished the last of her drink. “Well, you _did_ talk with Nestor prior after all and while we are serious about keeping certain plans a surprise for you, there _are_ a few things you have the right to know about.” She looked to Eleanor, who nodded and stood up as well.

“In that case, this way, boys,” the jeweler stated, “Be sure to finish your drinks, first.”

A few minutes later, everyone piled into Stone Hill Castle where Carmen (with Nestor’s permission) pulled out a scroll detailing a letter, one sent to Nestor from someone named ‘Sofia’, and read it aloud for Spyro and Sparx.

_Nestor, Leader of the Artisans_

_Words cannot do my relief and gratitude towards your consent for this undertaking justice._

_Though much will still need to be done on all sides to reconcile dragonkind, I believe this first act will go far in achieving that goal._

_As agreed, we will take this reintegration process at a pace agreeable to both sides while ensuring enough steady interactions that our clans establish a mutually beneficial relationship. For this reason, Ecologists will travel to your realm sometime in the following weeks to familiarize themselves with your way of life._

_If any issues or concerns on your side regarding this arrangement materialize, please do not hesitate to notify me so that we can revise our plans whenever necessary._

_Sincerely,_

_Sofia_

By the end, both the dragon and dragonfly gaped. Even with all the big fancy words, the two gleaned enough to get the gist of this letter.

“Bzz bzzt?! (For real?!)”

“I know, right?!” So, this is part of what Nestor meant with all that atonement talk. Spyro looked to the older dragons, tail wagging in excitement. “Any idea when they’ll be showing up?”

Carmen huffed as she rolled the scroll back up and returned it to its rightful place. “Not to burst your bubble, but I doubt every single Ecologist will be making a grand entrance in our realm. Not so soon anyway. Nestor will notify us later this evening about all this just to make sure everyone’s on the same page, but from what I could infer, only one of them will be visiting for now.” She stroked her chin. “No genius required to know who.”

Spyro and Sparx shared a look of confusion. Amanda smiled in sympathy in turn and gestured a hand to Eleanor, drawing everyone’s attention to her.

The orange dragon blushed vermillion at being put in the spotlight. She cleared her throat to regain composure. “That would be Nicolas. I accompanied him on his brief assignment to Gnorc Gnexus and rendezvous with the professor to relay what the Ecologist leader – that’s Sofia by the way – intended to do concerning what the Ecologists would do going forward. The professor agreed to lift his vow of silence concerning those closest to him afterwards.”

Which meant Elora shouldn’t have had any trouble getting info out of him then. Good to know.

“Anyway, the reason Nico’s coming here is because he’s not only Ecologist but Artisan as well. Sofia wants her clan to ease back into the Dragon Realms, and she figured the biggest priority now that everyone’s back home would be giving the Ecologists of mixed heritage a chance to explore and get to know everyone first. One at a time, that is.” She clasped her hands together and smiled. “I think you’ll come to like him, Spyro and Sparx. Nico is a very sweet young man.”

“Oh, indeed he is!” Amanda added in cheer. She started counting off on her fingers. “Gentle, considerate, honest—”

“An absolute throw pillow,” Carmen uttered under her breath. Eleanor elbowed her again.

“Bzzt, b-b-bzzt, bzzt bzzt bzzt! (Then we’ll just have to show him a good time then),” Sparx chirped.

“You said it, buddy!” Spyro laughed before he faced the ladies with a confident grin, “Don’t worry! We’ll make sure this guy has a day here he’ll never forget!”

 _That’s what I’m afraid of,_ Carmen and Eleanor mused in silent dread.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference pictures of my OCs:
> 
> Artisans - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs
> 
> Peace Keepers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs
> 
> Magic Crafters - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs
> 
> Ecologists - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs
> 
> Beast Makers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs
> 
> Dream Weavers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs


	6. Strangers Like Me - Part 1

_You understand your role, correct?_

_Yeah, yeah. You understand your end of the bargain, right?_

_Carry out_ your _end and payment will be nothing less than assured._

**XXX**

Despite being here for a mere few minutes, Nico found himself enjoying the Artisan Realm already.

Who could blame him? Sunny blue skies, soft green grass dotted by colorful flowers, rolling idyllic hills complete with tall healthy trees, elegant stone structures, crystal clear waterfalls. This hub world alone would make for a delightful vacation spot.

Now then, where could the guide be? Fortunately, he didn't have to search far to spot Nestor, who waited by the entrance to a sizable hedge-labyrinth.

"Ah, young Nicolas!" Nestor greeted once he noticed his guest approach him. He held out his hand. "Welcome to Artisans! My name is Nestor; I can tell you're looking forward to exploring our Homeworld!"

Nico chuckled and accepted the Realm Leader's hand. "I-I am! Miss Sofia felt it would do me good to visit now that I can finally see the other side of my heritage."

 _Ah yes_ , the emerald elder recalled. Sofia had mentioned a few of the Ecologists having mixed ancestry, the boy here included. "Then I assure you that we will do all in our power to help you feel welcome here, young one." He took back his hand and gestured the smaller dragon to follow him into the labyrinth. "Our first stop will be Dark Hollow. I figured you might enjoy the library there and the amount of information it contains."

Nico nodded as he followed Nestor through the maze, which wasn't particularly large. Since reaching the portal did not take long in turn, Nico couldn't help but notice Nestor taking his sweet time getting there. Was he trying to stall?

The peach-palette dragon shook his head just as he and Nestor walked through the portal. Best not to assume.

Besides, the world that greeted him on the other side demanded far more attention. His curiosity piqued in an instant at the clear midday sky as well as stone structures with candles dotting their walls. All these details, while pleasant in daylight, suggested a more tranquil mystical atmosphere at night. Chances are they wouldn't stay around long enough for that. A shame.

As the young man drunk in the sites, Nestor took the opportunity to scan the area for a certain someone. Hopefully not Alban as the feather-haired scribe had made his disgruntled opinion regarding the lost dragon clan visiting this realm quite clear. Before long, Nestor's eyes landed on a certain other red dragon on the next 'level', organizing some books on one of the outdoor shelves.

Nestor cupped his hand to his mouth and called out, "Oswin!"

The fellow in question turned his turbaned head and beamed in delight before he hopped down to their level and walked up to them.

"Ah Nestor! Not a moment too soon! I was just about to check with you on whether our guest had arrived yet." Speaking of whom, his attention turned to Nicolas. "Is this the dear boy Miss Sofia mentioned?"

Nodding, Nestor turned to his guest and stepped aside so the two dragons could greet each other in a more proper manner. "Nicolas, this is Oswin; he is the librarian of our Realm."

Nico heartily shared a handshake with Oswin. "It's a pleasure to meet you sir."

"Please, the pleasure is all mine! I can't tell you how many times I've read through all our available books on the Ecologists! To think I'd ever get to meet one of them in this lifetime. Astounding!"

The way Oswin kept gazing at him, though benevolent, made Nico start to feel scrutinized like a science project. Thankfully, Nestor noticed the same and cut in from behind with, "Ah that reminds me, Oswin! Didn't you receive a new collection of books from Sunny Villa just the other day?"

With a gasp of realization, Oswin released Nico's hand. "That's right, thank you for reminding me, Nestor! This way please!" He led his group to the alcove right before the end of the area and down the steps. In moments, the group emerged into a domed subterranean library riddled with lit candles. The floor consisted of large platforms bordered by shallow water, a design choice that Nico silently questioned in terms of practicality.

The reverie cut short as Oswin's voice called attention. "With a plethora of subjects covered in the new books combined with what we already have," the bookkeeper rotated to face his companions and stretched both arms out in a grandiose fashion, "there's _bound_ to be something to catch your interest! Go around, see what you like! Oh, but before you do, there's something I better let you in on."

Oswin pulled out a book from a nearby shelf and waved a hand above it. On cue, an iridescent shimmer passed over the item.

"Not that I don't trust you to return any of these books, but those egg thieves like to break the mold every now and then. That's why I made sure to enchant all the books in Dark Hollow to teleport back to their respective shelves whenever somebody tries to take 'em outside the area. A little something a friend from Magic Crafters taught me." He punctuated this explanation with a wink.

Huh, clever. Nico scanned the library for titles he'd find interesting. So engrossed in the task, he never noticed Nestor pull Oswin aside (and out of earshot) for a talk.

 _Wow, he wasn't kidding about these books being diverse,_ the pastel dragon mused in wonder. Already he had stumbled across twenty different topics in just half a minute (and yes, he'd counted). Alas, none caught his eye yet and part of him couldn't help but feel ashamed of that. His guild valued well-rounded knowledge and Miss Sofia always advised to take opportunities to learn new things, even if they seemed boring.

Hmm. Might as well mitigate the pain and pick the _least_ boring one. How about—

Out of nowhere, someone bumped into his side at high speed, nearly knocking him down! Nico managed to catch himself on the wall with one hand, preventing himself from falling down, and lifted his head just in time to see a blue-robed figure dash out of the library, holding something to their chest with robed arms.

"Well that was rude," Nico mumbled to himself as he sent a cross face the offender's way.

A sudden shimmer off the peripherals caught his attention and drew it to a shelf off to his right, this one near coasted by the water. A closer inspection revealed nothing out of the ordinary at first – until the shimmer happened again, this time as an opalescent gleam encompassing a navy-blue book with gold trimming.

Odd. This didn't fit with Mr. Oswin's description. Why glow if the book was right where it should be? Did that count as normal around here?

Nico furrowed his brow, unsure, and reached a tentative hand towards the book...

"THIEF!"

Startled by the shout, Nico stared with widened eyes and dashed out the library just in time to see Nestor holding said robed figure by the scruff of his neck while Oswin snatched away what turned out to be a book from their hands. With a swift resounding kick, Nestor sent the thief flying high into the sky until they sailed out of view with a cartoonish twinkle.

Just then, Oswin turned and noticed their audience. A meek smile came about. "Oh, our apologies you had to see that. We were just about to come back inside when that hooligan came running out. They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Nico blinked and shook his head. Aside from getting shoved aside, he was fine. Aside from that, though, words failed to come since this sort of thing never happened back home.

Nestor sighed in relief. "In that case, would you like to keep looking inside for a book you like, or would you rather move onto the next area? We have plenty of time."

That last sentence proved to be the A-OK Nico needed to affirm his wish to continue his search for a good book. He didn't wish for the elders' efforts for this part of their trip to be for nothing, after all. However, once Oswin passed him by as everyone returned to the library, his sharp eyes noticed something off about the carried piece of literature.

Didn't the spine on that book look the same as that of the glowing one? Then something even more suspicious occurred to Nico as he followed the adults into the library: he noticed said book in the same direction from which that thief originated. He paused, the adults getting a few steps ahead before he spoke up.

"Mr. Oswin, sir?"

The elder looked to him. "Yes?"

"You said it's not possible for books to get snuck out, right?"

"That's right."

"What about books getting snuck in?"

Oswin's face scrunched in genuine confusion.

Nico ducked his head in brief thought. Maybe he should rephrase that question. "What I mean is," he stuck a finger at what he meant, "has that one always been here?"

Oswin looked to where Nico was pointing and approached the shelf in question. Once his eyes landed on the aforementioned book and he compared it to the one in his hands, he sighed. "I was afraid of this." At Nico's confused look, he elaborated. "I made sure to give the anti-theft spell to every book in here and do the same for any new addition that comes in, meaning that thief was hoping to make off with this," he held up the book he got back from the thief, revealing it to look just like the one on the shelf, "while tricking us into thinking we still had it."

With that, Oswin pulled out the fake book and switched it out with the real one. "Good eye, by the way. Not that we wouldn't have noticed ourselves, but a little early detection never hurts either! I'll have to see into the proper spell later on for this kind of underhanded trick. Was there anything else off you noticed about it?"

Blushing at the compliment, Nico shuffled his feet yet managed a small smile. "I-I think I also saw it glowing before, too, if that counts, sir."

"All the more proof! I'll see about getting this book treated and after that I'll be organizing the new arrivals. Unless that is, are there any titles you'd like to check out?" At the boy's hesitation, the turbaned reptile gave a soft and encouraging smile.

"...Actually," Nico spoke at last, "I was hoping you might have something about fireworks?"

**XXX**

_Act natural, Nestor said. Go about your business, he said._

Easy for the Big Boss to say. He didn't have Complicated BackstoryTM correlating to today! Lindar breathed out in resignation as Gavin's café came into view at last. He knew this day would be coming. Nestor told _everyone_ this day would be coming.

Well excuse Lindar if he had a hard time focusing today and wanted some coffee courage. Landing right in front of the door, he sighed in relief and strolled through the door, bell ringing upon his entrance.

"Lindar!" Gavin greeted from behind the bar. "The usual mocha?"

"Yeah," the clockmaker grunted as he sat down on one of the bar stools. From one of his pockets he pulled out a stack of cookies wrapped up in cellophane tied up at the top and set it on the counter. "Extra cream this time."

As the barista got to work on the order, his dark eyes trailed over to the maya blue dragon, who kept looking down at the wooden patterns of the bar top. His attention lingered on the cookies for a moment, but he shrugged it off.

"Gem for your thoughts? Nobody here but us."

At first, Lindar seemed ready to deny anything – only to sigh in defeat and rub his eyes for a moment. "Am I being overdramatic about this?" He took note of Gavin's amused stare and rolled his eyes. "About the kid." When Gavin didn't let up, Lindar threw his hands in the air with an annoyed scowl. "About the kid that's _not_ Spyro!"

Gavin shrugged. "That depends. Your opinion about the Ecologists is pretty clear."

"As clear as everybody's opinion on me."

A disapproving frown took over Gavin's face. "Lindar. Not everyone's like your dad. Most of us couldn't care less that you've got Ecologist in you."

"Yeah, cuz most of you guys just happened to forget how much fun picking on the 'half-breed' was back then."

Gavin flinched and Lindar regretted his wording immediately, wilting in both posture and voice. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to lump you in there."

"It's okay." Gavin knew all too well the grief his longtime friend had to weather throughout his life. The lack of horns had been bad enough; the childhood grief over _this_ had been another beast altogether. "I knew what it was like for people to pick you apart and claim what's wrong with you. It's how we ended up friends."

Despite himself, Lindar smirked. "And here I thought we forged a friendship out of cleaning Alvar's kitchen."

"Hey, I wasn't the one sneaking off with his spices for a prank."

"You helped!"

"Only because I noticed you sneaking in and tried to get you out. You knew we weren't allowed in there alone." That and dealing with Alvar's temper was never a popular pastime.

Lindar arched a brow. "So, which part of getting me out entailed dipping yourself in flour and smearing raspberry jam over half your body so you'd look like a zombie as a distraction?"

Gavin tossed a sheepish grin over his shoulder. "Alvar hates zombies," he went back to making the mocha and muttered, "and near heart-attacks."

Lindar snorted at the memory, only to sag right away. "You think that kid ever had to deal with the same stuff as me?"

"Helping friends sneak out of kitchens?"

That quip earned a snort out of the other blue dragon. "No—well, probably—I meant catching grief from others for being Artisan and Ecologist."

"You can never be too sure from just assuming. From what Nestor said, he sounds young enough to have spent enough time around Eleanor and the others, so..." he shrugged and noticed Lindar's pensive expression. "Why do you ask?"

For a moment, no answer came from the normally talkative clockmaker much to Gavin's surprise.

"Before Nestor told everyone about the whole reintegration thing, he came to me about the Ecologists being back on the grid. Don't need ta be a genius to figure how _I_ reacted." He stared back at Gavin. "To tell you the truth, though, it got me thinking. I don't really _hate_ them. I just hate what being one of them meant for me, what I had to go through."

And now for the first time, there was someone here who might be able to understand him in full.

"What do you plan to do then?" Gavin asked as he finished the mocha and added cream to the top. He slid the completed drink over to Lindar, who picked it up and took a long swig.

The clockmaker's frown deepened. "I'm taking Nestor's advice and staying out of the kid's way, so he has better memories of this place than I did." It was the least he could do.

Gavin frowned in return not too sure he approved of his friend's decision all the way. "Sounds sensible I guess, but you don't _have_ to keep avoiding him. From what Ellie, Carmen, and Amanda told us, he sounds like a nice kid."

"I know; that's why he's best off as far away from me as possible." Lindar may not act like it but he knew very well his own propensity for hurtful comments, let alone passive aggressive slights. Nice folks shouldn't have to deal with stuff like that. "Besides, I need to visit Nevin after this anyway to see how far he's come on some clocks I lent for painting, and we all know how much he _loves_ going on about his 'artistic palettes' and junk like that."

Besides, it would be the perfect excuse to avoid running into their little visitor. Nestor _did_ say in the debriefing that Nevin's castle would not be one of the stops for a while. Hopefully, haggling with the artist on customers' color choices would not take too long.

Gavin nodded. "Alright. Just in case you _do_ run into the kid, be on your best behavior."

Lindar smirked and blew a half-hearted raspberry. "Aren't I always?"

The barista merely arched a brow, skeptic. Sometimes he wondered how Lindar and Spyro weren't related by blood.

"By the way."

"Hmm?" To Gavin's surprise, Lindar slid the cookies his way. "Could you do a favor for me?"

**XXX**

Nestor and Nico could only gape in awe and confusion at the kitchen covered floor to ceiling in batter. Upon closer inspection, the former noticed a strange dragon-shaped lump in the middle of the floor. A _Spyro-sized_ lump. Expression concerned, Nestor hurried over to the lump in record time, kneeled down, and swiped a thumb across one end to reveal the face of a dazed young purple dragon.

"Spyro? Spyro, are you alright?"

Slowly but surely, the purple dragon managed to regain consciousness as he lifted his head while Sparx burst from the goo in between his horns, eyes woozy and body swaying. "Oh hey, Nestor. How's the cake?"

The green dragon blinked. "Do you mean in appearance or taste because the former could use a bit more practice. As for the latter," he traced up some goo with his index finger and sampled it, "quite a tragedy it couldn't be enjoyed in a more...manageable product."

Spyro groaned as he shakily got back on his feet. "Yeah, I have _no_ idea how I managed this one."

A grunt sounded from Nico's left, directing everyone's attention to an even larger lump peeling off from the wall and wiping its face to reveal itself as Devlin. "In all honesty my boy, neither do I, and I was watching you the entire time."

Spyro sagged in defeat while Sparx and Nestor looked to him in sympathy, the elder dragon putting a hand on the youth's shoulder about to offer words of comfort. That was until Spyro noticed the slightly older dragon beside Devlin and perked right up, disaster fail forgotten in an instant. "Oh hey, you're that Nico guy, right?

The orange dragon gave an absent nod, still recovering from the fact that someone so small caused this much havoc.

"Nice to meet ya! Name's Spyro! This little guy here's Sparx!" He gestured his head to the dragonfly next to him, who waved back at Nico happily. "And this," he winced at the sight of the room, "was supposed ta be your 'Welcome to Our Neighborhood' cake."

Nico started in surprise. "Oh. You didn't have to go that far. I could have just bought a few pastries from here." He had plenty of Gems after all.

Devlin shook his head. "Nonsense, my boy! You're very bit an Artisan as the rest of us – and even if you weren't, you are our guest here!"

"Still, couldn't I help clean up here?" He wilted at the looks of confusion on everyone else's faces. "Just a little?"

"Are you sure?" Devlin inquired.

"Yeah," Spyro added, "I'm the one who made this mess! You don't gotta do that."

"Well no, but it'd feel wrong to just leave knowing this happened because you were going out of your way for me."

Nestor hummed contemplatively. He was starting to see a pattern with this kid. "How about this? You and I will dedicate fifteen minutes to helping the others clean. Once we reach the mark, though, we _must_ continue on. No negotiations."

For a moment, Nico seemed as though he might (gently) insist on seeing this mess to the end. However, his respect for authority won out and manifested in a meek nod and 'yes sir'. While not rebellious behavior per say, Nestor noted throughout the cleanup how the young adult would attempt to do more than his fair share of the work only to be either shooed away by Devlin or (more often) wind up in some weird passive-aggressive stalemates with Spyro that pit a dogged need to help against dogged independence.

"For the last time dude, I can handle this!"

"I just think you'll be done faster if I pitch in a little."

"I'm only taking so long cuz you keep asking me!"

"Well it might not take so long if you just let me help."

In truth, Nestor did not expect such a pushy side from someone so docile. Thank goodness the carpenter and Devlin took care to break these arguments up fast for the sake of time. Indeed, the fifteen-minute mark arrived in a seeming blink, and the Artisan leader called out as he wiped his hands on a clean rag.

"Alright, that ought to lessen the burden for you and the others, Spyro. I trust you all can handle the rest on your own?"

"No sweat!"

Giving the purple drake a nod, Nestor turned to Nico. "In that case, it's time to go."

Again, that heavy reluctance flashed in the boy's eyes, but obedience came easily regardless. Something Sofia warned Nestor about came back in memory, but the Artisan leader decided against voicing it. He didn't wish for the boy to feel criticized.

As a solution, he opted a detour to Stone Hill, more precisely Gavin's café.

Sure enough, the barista greeted the pair with a customer-ready grin before finishing his current order. After sliding a steaming cup of black coffee down the bar to Argus, Gavin turned to the nearing dragon pair.

"Aw, Nestor! So this here's that Sofia lady's boy, eh? Name's Gavin! Take a seat, see what tickles your fancy!" The tattooed dragon gestured a hand up at the fancy wooden menu hanging on the wall behind him as Nestor and Nico each took a seat at the counter. "Normally the alcohol's off-limits to minors, but I take it you just reached legal age recently, am I right?"

Nico blinked in both surprise and slight nervousness, but Gavin raised a hand before the younger dragon could ask him how he knew.

"Just kidding. Ellie told me you're not the biggest fan of drinking. No worries, we've got plenty other options. Just you name it!"

Checking first with Nestor only to receive an encouraging nod, Nico looked back at Gavin and folded his hands together. "Do you serve peach smoothies by any chance, sir?"

"You're just in luck! I just got a shipment of assorted fruits in just the other day!" He turned to his leader next. "Nestor, what about you?"

"I'll be content with a mere cup of Flat White."

Gavin snapped a finger-gun. "Be right back then!"

Once the barista left, Nestor turned to Nico to ask if he was enjoying himself, only to see the boy reading through his fireworks book with rapt attention. Deciding better, Nestor smiled and let the boy be for now, not wanting him to feel smothered. Instead, he took up word with Argus to pass the time.

Gavin came back a while later with both dragons' drinks...and a pack of peanut butter cookies? Nico and Nestor both blinked in surprise – pleasant surprise but still – when the barista offered this to the former.

"On the house, kid," Gavin answered with a wink before the young man could ask any questions.

After giving the older dragon a somewhat baffled thanks, Nico took an absentminded sip of his icy drink as he continued reading, taking bites of the cookies in between each read. The doorbell rang at someone else's entrance but neither Nico nor Nestor paid it any mind until a familiar rumbling voice spoke up.

"Hey kiddo."

Realizing he was the one being addressed by the newcomer, Nico turned to face them with a polite smile that fell into a taken back frown. Nestor looked over his shoulder as well and gasped, though more in surprise than alarm.

"Delbin, what are you doing here?"

The large red dragon shuffled his feet in place. "I, um, I figured it was high time I stopped stalling and saw my nephew." Speaking of whom, he noticed the boy's expression. "Ah, sorry. I guess I did spring myself on ya out of nowhere. Sorry about that."

Nico's face softened as the Eco-Artisan regarded the other red dragon with a head tilt. "Was...Was your sister's name Angela?"

For a cold second, Nestor sees the flash of pain shoot across Delbin's eyes. However, the buff artist hid the pain well with a friendly smile and nod. At first, the related reptiles shared a look of bashful uncertainty before Delbin extended a hand.

"It's good to meet you."

Nico stared at the hand as if deliberating before taking it with a firm shake with some hesitation before taking back his own. Again silence settled in, but Nestor proved quick to step in before repeated awkwardness could occur. "Delbin, would you like to take a seat?"

"Hmm? Oh, I don't want to put you guys out, Nestor!"

"Please?" Both elder dragons looked in surprise at Nico, who blushed at both the attention and his own blurting. "U-Um...if you're alright with that...sir."

Despite his initial surprise, Delbin chuckled. "We're family, aren't we? No 'sirs' necessary here. Just call me Uncle...if you want, of course!"

Nico opened his mouth as if to answer, only to second-guess and smile back instead, the sight of which Delbin considered a success. The painter cocked his head sideways at the article in the boy's hands.

"Whatcha reading?"

"Oh! This is just a book on fireworks I borrowed from the library. It's the closest I could find to my field of interest."

Delbin took a seat next to Nico, opposite of Nestor. "Is that so? Planning on getting into special effects?"

Nico nervously tapped his fingers against the book spine. "A certain kind of art, actually. It might be a bit hard to explain."

His uncle (wow that term would take some getting used to) shrugged one broad shoulder as if to say, 'try me'.

While the two red reptiles talked amongst Delbin ordering his own drink, Nestor watched the scene in between sips of his coffee with a smile. From what the Artisan leader gathered from today, this boy had proven the polar opposite of Spyro. One would think such a personality would be a welcome reprieve from the purple dragon and his chaotic eagerness; Nestor was only halfway sure in that regard. In fact, he was starting to see where Spyro might have been onto something.

Nicolas could use some of the smaller dragon's confidence for one. Nestor caught Nicolas several times in the middle of a mental stall, the boy not so much struggling to decide as much as garnering the will to make that decision known. Second, Nico had this eagerness to please others that Spyro – no, Spyro had that too but it was more like how while Spyro did so to prove himself Nico did so to avoid upsetting the status quo.

Still, Spyro could stand to learn something about self-restraint and caution from this young man as well. For all his hesitation and people-pleasing, Nico knew well when to stand down.

Perhaps it would do to arrange some time for the boys to get to know each other better. Without the task of a giant mess as pretense that is.

Best leave that idea on the backburner for the moment. Delbin and Nico seemed to be getting along well anyway, so Nestor saw no need to interrupt. Once everyone finished their drinks, Nestor suggested the next stop be Nevin's castle since Nico showed a keen interest when Delbin mentioned his occupation as an artist.

Turns out the two red dragons were still so locked in conversation that Delbin wound up tagging along for the time being – and almost immediately after turning a corner right before the entrance to Nevin's castle, Nico forgot to watch where he was going and bumped into the chest of someone headed out.

"O-Oh! Sorry about that sir!" Nico blurted to the somewhat taller light-blue dragon before him.

"Eh, don't sweat it, kid," the other dragon stated as he brushed himself off. "Trust me, we've got enough tykes around here that stuff like this is practically clockwork."

Right then, Nico noticed the absurd number of clocks on the older dragon's person. His eyes lit up in realization once he got the joke and struggled to contain a mirthful snort.

Lindar puffed his chest in approval in turn. Just the response a pun of that caliber deserved. Once his eyes got a better look at the boy, though, they narrowed as they took in the boy's blocky features interspersed with trademark signs of Artisan heritage...and something else.

Faint realization reflected on his face.

"Never seen you around these parts," he commented in an even tone, "What's yer name?"

"My full name is Nicolas, but most folks just call me Nico."

Not as pretentious as he expected. The clockmaker tilted his goggles higher up. "Lindar." Just then he noticed the surprise on Delbin and stern tenseness on Nestor and rolled his eyes. "Hey there. Good to meet you, too. Care to show me around the neighborhood?"

"Nice to see you out and about as well, Lindar," Nestor responded in a droll tone, arms crossed. At least the clockmaker seemed to be his usual self. "I'd been under the assumption you would be home all day preoccupied with orders as well as your own projects."

Lindar waved a dismissive hand. "Orders crafted, artist's block on projects. This batch of requests came from some pretty hoity-toity clients so I figured having Nevin be the painter would make the perfect match. I just wanted to check and see how far he got since today's been so slow. Now if you gentleman will excuse me, there's an afternoon nap back home with my name on it."

Yet before he could get far—

"Thank you."

Lindar paused and glanced over his shoulder. At the look of flat confusion on the elder's face, Nico cleared his throat. "For the cookies."

No answer came at first. The muscles in Lindar's back tensed for a hot second yet his voice released in a deceptive coolness. "Kid, not to burst your bubble but Gavin gives out sh – _stuff_ like that to every visitor. That's part of his deal with Delvin."

Alas, that excuse fell short at Nestor's knowing smirk.

"And how would you think he'd know who Delvin is?" When Lindar blushed and stalked off almost immediately afterward, muttering to himself, the carpenter shook his head in amusement. Out of his peripheral, he noticed Nico had a contemplative gaze trained on the retreating horologist. "Don't take his behavior to heart. Lindar isn't the type to show his emotions freely."

Based off of this lone encounter, Nico could imagine. However, as he and Nestor and Delbin continued on their way, he stole one last glimpse at Lindar's retreating form. The young Eco-Artisan noticed the same 'something else' Lindar had.

_He's like me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference pictures of my OCs:
> 
> Artisans - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs
> 
> Peace Keepers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs
> 
> Magic Crafters - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs
> 
> Ecologists - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs
> 
> Beast Makers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs
> 
> Dream Weavers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs


	7. Strangers Like Me - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this wound up a little longer than I expected, so I had to break it up into two chapters.

“Phew, finally!”

Spyro stepped back from the sink where he’d finished rinsing off the washcloth and examined the kitchen’s restored cleanliness. Man, this mess took way too long to fix up, even after the brief extra help! Ah well, surely Nestor would consider this cleanup punishment enough!

A satisfied groan and the sound of joints popping turned his attention to Devlin, who moaned in similar relief before donning a satisfied smile. “Well now, that should be everything! I daresay that we might have gotten a bit overzealous in our attempts to impress but live and learn as they say!”

“Bzzt, b-b-bzzt, bzz-bzz-bzzt. _Bzz-_ b-bzzt _._ (Next time we have guests, let’s stick to something smaller. _Way_ smaller.)”

No argument from Spyro there. The purple dragon assumed a sheepish grin at Devlin. “Sorry our welcome present-slash-lesson didn’t go so well.”

The baker waved a dismissive hand. “Oh think nothing of it, my boy! Learning always entails stumbling blocks,” he thought back to the exploded cake and murmured, “some a tad larger than others. Regardless, you’d best be heading to Oswin for your next lesson!”

Spyro and Sparx shared an excited grin. Unlike the other Artisans, Oswin knew how to make lessons fun, even the ones that should send you asleep. No one understood how he pulled it off, but he pulled it off.

“And before I forget,” Devlin ducked out of the kitchen and returned with a small recipe book, “could you return this to Oswin for me? I’d do it myself, but Alvar is struggling over a meat-filled dish he and I are collaborating on for tonight’s party and that man simply cannot _stand_ to wait.”

Spyro gathered the book into his mouth and garbled a ‘see ya’ before departing, Sparx close behind. As the pair neared the exit back to Artisans, however, the dragonfly adopted a pensive frown. The drake noticed and muffled out ‘something on your mind, buddy?’

“Bzz-bzz-b-b-bzz bzzt? (You think Nico’s okay?)” When his question earned a confused brow, the golden insect waved his front forelegs in a thoughtful motion. “Bz-b-b-b-b-b-bzz-b-b-bzz-bzzt. (He looked kind of bummed when he left with Nestor.)”

 _Oh boy, here we go_. Spyro paused to sit back on his haunches and drop the book into his hands. “Yeah, but that’s not _our_ fault. No offense to him, but I think that guy has got a complex when it comes to helping.”

Fair enough. The dragonfly lost count of all the arguments Spyro got into with their guest, the dragonfly doing his best to mediate before Nestor and Devlin would intervene. At the same time, there never passed a moment where the chubby Ecologist hadn’t radiated sincerity despite his pushiness.

Apparently that memory did not go unshared for Spyro’s face fell a second later. “OK, maybe saying yes _wouldn’t_ have hurt, but you know how I am! There’s always something I gotta prove to everybody: to Nestor, to the other Artisans, and now to this guy! I didn’t want him thinking I’m some helpless baby.”

Sparx’s face softened in sympathy. He could attest to the purple dragon’s struggles to make something of himself, let alone the multiple times he’d butt heads with the other Artisans in turn. Still, sometimes he wished his friend would stop believing everyone expected the world from him.

“Bzzt, b-b-bzzt b-b-bzzt. (I doubt he thinks that of you.)”

Spyro’s face bunched at this viable point. Nico seemed more like the type who simply couldn’t help to help. Man that sounded confusing. If they could only befriend him in a better context, they could get off on the right foot.

Maybe the answer was just that simple? A determined smile and tail-wag came to Spyro at this epiphany. Yeah, he could do simple! He whipped around to face Sparx. “Hey, what do ya say after Oswin’s lesson, we head off and see if we can’t hang out with him for real? You know, minus the chores?”

With a happy buzz, Sparx bobbed up and down to show his approval. A talk with someone closer in age could be what their guest needed to enjoy himself! This was the last lesson for today anyway, and Sparx doubted the older Artisans would be opposed.

Then he noticed his friend’s smirk.

“Besides, it’s about time we got a new pranking partner. We’ll show the big guy how ta raise some mischief, and we’ll get him loosening up in no time!”

Oh dear. Nestor and the others would not approve of _that_ idea. In fact, it might result in a heavier than usual grounding for them both and land Nico in trouble. Alas, before Sparx could voice this exact concern, Spyro stuffed the book back into his mouth and continued on his merry way, leaving his pal little choice but to follow.

Oh the dragonfly could already foresee tonight turning into chaos.

**XXX**

Nestor would prefer chaos over this.

‘This’ being Nevin’s effusive exposition over _every_ painting in his gallery down to the last stroke. Did spectators need to know the angles at which you painted the mountains? Perhaps if they aspired to be artists themselves, although Delbin begged to differ judging by his bored yawn. An utter marvel none of them hadn’t nodded off yet.

Delbin sent an apologetic smile to Nico only to frown at the younger dragon’s downcast face, eyes glazed over in deep thought. Nestor noticed as well and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong when Nico faced him at startling speed and asked in a low enough voice so Nevin wouldn’t overhear, “Would it be alright if we visited that other dragon after this, sir?”

Nestor blinked at the question and shared a glance with Delbin. They didn’t need Carmen’s investigative skills to know who Nico meant. The Artisan leader spared their guide a sorry-but-not-really face. “Nevin, could you give us a moment? Something just came up.”

Nevin furrowed his brows in light chagrin but dismissed his audience with a resigned flap of his hand. Nestor returned his attention to Nico and guided the boy to the other end of the gallery for privacy alongside Delbin. 

“You wish to see Lindar next? Are you certain that would fare well?”

“Y-Yeah! And would it be alright if I...saw him alone too?” When that request took the two adults aback, Nico hunched his shoulders and hastened to explain his reasoning. “It’s just...he’s Ecologist and Artisan,” he gestured to himself, “ _I’m_ Ecologist and Artisan. Is there anyone else here like him?”

Delbin twiddled his thumbs. “No, just him. It might be a nice thing to do for him, but...he might not be all open to that idea.”

“He made sure I got those cookies, didn’t he?” Nico countered, “I doubt he’d do that if he hated me.”

“Of course he doesn’t hate you,” his uncle assured in a surprised tone, “Lindy’s just a complicated guy is all.”

“Well, if I spent some time with him—”

“Nicolas,” Nestor interceded in full sternness. He could already see through the boy’s intentions. “You have a kind heart, but Lindar needs to handle his feelings by himself. Besides, the mere fact you share like heritage is no guarantee the two of you will get along.” Let alone with such a diametric difference in personalities between them. The green dragon softened his face at the boy’s sad frown and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes the best way to help someone is to give them time and space.”

Nico turned his gaze downward again and wrung his hands, trying hard to bite down the anxiety caused by these all too familiar words. While he saw their point, could he leave Mr. Lindar alone with such tumultuous feelings that only sprang up because of his presence here? Didn’t that equate to some level of responsibility on the boy’s part? But Nico knew better than to question his elders; despite his discomfort, he managed a weak smile and ‘yes sir’ that he could tell neither adult bought.

To his fortune, Nestor and Delbin instead opted to ease him back into the tour. For his part, Nico tried his best to focus on the present. Though guilt still ate at him, his mind managed to cope thanks to one piece of advice the older Ecologists never failed to remind him: there’s always a way so long as one can think.

He just needed time.

On the bright side, the art tour ended short thanks to Delbin’s sarcastic commentary escalating into a heated debate over ‘proper’ painting techniques, much to Nico’s amusement and Nestor’s lack thereof. In the end, the carpenter had to drag a smug Delbin out the castle’s front entrance by the arm as Nico walked beside them, Nevin’s grumbles fading into the background as the trio reached the exit.

“C’mon, Nessie,” Delbin chortled, “I livened things up; Nev’s just too proud to admit it!”

Not wrong per say, but _somebody_ had to play mediator here. “That being said, one silver lining to your antics is that we have ample time for a few more stops. There’s still daylight left, so that should leave enough time for a roundabout at Sunny Flight and—”

Just then, Delbin gently pried his arm free. “I can take him.” At Nestor’s inquisitive stare, he shrugged. “Really, it’s no big deal. I’ve got nothing planned anyway, and it’d mean more family bonding. Besides, you’ll have your hands open for...other stuff.” He winked to accentuate his point.

Catching on, Nestor rolled his shoulders with an eased smile. “In that case, I’ll leave things to you.” He addressed Nico next. “We’ll meet again at the entrance to Town Square at sundown. There’s one more treat we have in store for you.”

Really? Nico cocked his head in curiosity as the Artisan leader bade them goodbye and departed. A meaty hand on his back jolted him out of his thoughts.

“C’mon, kiddo. Sunlight doesn’t last forever!”

“R-Right!”

Along the way, however, Nico grew suspicious once he recognized the direction his uncle chose. He chose to stay silent on this observation for despite the short time they’ve known each other he’d come to trust his uncle. Still, something about the man’s contemplative face left him pondering about their _real_ destination.

The answer came once they touched down before a sizable cottage on the higher grounds of Stone Hill, where the sounds of multiple ticking clouds emanated.

 _Wait, ticking clocks?_ Nico’s face contorted in disbelief while his heart boomed.

“I know Nestor will come down on me for doing this behind his back,” Delbin spoke in some regret as he faced his nephew, “but I think you and Lindar deserve a chance to be friends.” Nestor’s warning sprang to mind, and the painter hurried to amend his statement. “N-Not that it’s guaranteed of course. I’m just saying it’d be a wasted opportunity not to try, and I doubt Lindar will swallow his pride in time before you hafta leave.”

No point in taking any chances after all. Delbin rubbed his nape in worry regardless. “I just hope he doesn’t take _me_ being here the wrong way either. He and I have some...history.” Before Nico could ask for clarification, the older dragon knocked on the door.

A few thuds and grumbles echoed before a groggy ‘coming’ wafted out and the door opened to reveal a slightly frazzled Lindar, hair sticking out more so than usual and eyelids drooping. Once his brain registered guests on his doorstep, his eyes widened, and he shut the door in their faces posthaste. A couple seconds later, he returned with his mane back to code and trademark smirk in place.

“So, what brings you to my humble abode?”

“Me, sir.”

Only then did Lindar get a good look at the person next to Delbin. While the smirk remained, his eyes flashed with something akin to a certain phrase Sofia would have scolded Nico for using.

The younger dragon cleared his throat and smiled to break the ice. “It’s a pleasure to officially meet you, Mr. Lindar. My name is”—his smile fell for a second—“Oh right you probably already know it. I’m here to...uh...” Then it fell again because, on second thought, ‘get to know you better’ sounded weird although he couldn’t bring himself to lie either. It only now occurred to Nico how little he’d planned ahead for this reencounter.

A blonde eyebrow arched in agreement. “Meet me? Congrats then, kid, we’ve officially met. Now if you’ll excuse me.”

The moment the blue reptile moved to close the door, Delbin jammed his foot between it and the jamb. “Hey not so fast there, Lindy! Your clocks count as machines, don’t they? Shouldn’t the kid get a chance to see your magic at work?”

Lindar tossed the larger reptile an annoyed glare. “You’re not gonna let this go ‘til I say yes, aren’t you?” Delbin’s smirk said everything. Lindar sighed in defeat before pulling the door back to grant entrance. “Fine. Just keep your mitts out of the backroom, alright? Some projects in there’ve been giving me a headache and I don’t need anyone messing with ‘em.”

Nico, who’d been admiring the plethora of clocks adorning the interior, spoke up. “I could assist you if you’d like.” When Lindar and even Delbin gave questioning stares, he clasped his hands together. “I’ve dealt with lots of machines growing up, even simple ones. I’m no expert but an extra pair of hands might help.”

Red alerts burst the moment Delbin caught the calculating look on Lindar’s face, least of all when the clockmaker cast a far too pleasant smile. “Oh, so you think just because my clocks don’t look as complex as the stuff your clan whips up on a daily basis means this’ll all be a cake walk for ya.”

 _Crud._ Nico gulped at the sardonic tone. _I just crossed a line, didn’t I?_

Having similar thoughts, Delbin stepped forward. “Hey now, I’m sure he didn’t mean—”

Lindar raised a hand without a single glance the painter’s way, cutting him off. “Alright then, genius. Prove it.”

Nico blinked. Did he hear him right?

“Come with me to the backroom and see if you can’t fix one of my projects.”

Blink, blink. “But didn’t you just say—”

“Changed my mind. Now come on.”

As Lindar pivoted on his heels and strolled for the backroom. Nico tossed a baffled face to Delbin, who shrugged in equal confusion. Once they followed him inside, the horologist picked up a well-sized clock from the back shelf and set it on the central table.

Upon closer inspection, the clock resembled a grey-stoned castle encrusted with green and white jewels, white ‘snow’ that topped the spires. The face resting in the middle consisted of gold encircled by numbers one through twelve painted dark emerald, the black minute and hour hands posed like a fancy moustache. In the late afternoon light streaming through the window, the clock’s décor gleamed an opalescent mix that caught Nico’s voice in his throat.

His widened brown eyes reflected the shine well. “It’s... _beautiful_.”

Lindar’s blank expectant slate broke into something akin to surprise at the soft-spoken words. Based on what he’d heard from the female Artisans (specifically Carmen), he’d expected a kiss-up yet at the kid’s genuine awe he swore some of the frosty wariness started to thaw. Stupid heart.

Some reverence still in his eyes, Nico neared the clock. “What’s wrong with it?”

Snapping out of his stupor, Lindar slapped on a nonchalant frown. “This.” To demonstrate, the blue dragon adjusted the hands until they both hit twelve and on cue a plastic spring-green robin popped out on a tiny plank from the small top door and tweeted.

If a dying mouse’s squeak could pass for a tweet that is.

While Nico mulled over this issue, Lindar produced his toolbox and handed the boy a screwdriver. Accepting the tool, Nico unscrewed the front open and scanned the interior with a critical eye. A minute later he turned to the blue dragon. “Would it be alright if you showed me which parts do what, sir? I don’t want to break anything.”

For a hot second, Lindar appeared ready to shoot a sarcastic quip, only to think better and roll his eyes instead. “Make room.”

From there, the two males examined the clock from top to base, Lindar explaining the function of each piece while Nico offered tips based off past experiences. This left Delbin feeling like an academic third wheel due to the technical terms flying around. Thrice he attempted a glimpse over the others’ shoulders, hoping his taller height would prove useful, only to avoid flaring wings whenever Nico got excited.

_Maybe I should leave these two—_

“Uncle Delbin, we did it!”

The muscled artist jumped at the abrupt cheeriness. “Really?”

To his surprise, his nephew started pulling him by the hand so the older dragon could get a closer look (finally), and without prompt gently fingered the minute and hour hands until they both hit twelve again. This time when the robin burst out, it released a tinny chirp complemented by music box chimes.

“Huh,” Delbin murmured in light awe, “would ya look at that.”

Lindar huffed, hands on his belt and half-smirk undeniable. “I’ll admit, kid, you didn’t do half bad. Course,” the clockmaker bragged as he put a hand to his puffed-out chest, “that’s only natural thanks to _my_ brilliant teaching.”

Despite the show of bravado, Nico smiled up at the clockmaker. “It’s true. This wouldn’t have been doable if I’d been going in blind. Thank you.”

When the boy went so far as to bow his head, that damn thawing feeling crept up again. Lindar swore he’d end up a puddle by the end of today. Maintaining a humorless façade, he put a finger on the kid’s forehead to tilt his head back up.

“No bowing. I ain’t your king.” A thoughtful look briefly broke his stoicism. “Well, unless it’s backgammon.” He noticed Nico’s unease and sighed. “Listen, I’m sorry for acting distant earlier. It’s not that I have a complicated relationship with you or the Ecologists. I have a complicated relationship from being _associated_ with you guys.”

Oh. That figured.

“You’re half-Ecologist and half-Artisan,” Nico murmured. The _just like me_ went unspoken, but the way the boy so knowingly did not escape Lindar’s notice. “Did people make fun of you for it?” The younger dragon flinched once he realized how personal that question sounded. “S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to hit that close to home! I was only—”

“You sure apologize a lot, don’t ya?” Lindar snorted at the kid’s resultant blush. “Yeah. It made me a pretty frequent target.” His eyes briefly cut to Delbin, who paled and shrunk under his gaze. “Even more than the lack of horns did.”

Nico debated whether to look surprised but decided against it to avoid looking ingenuine. “I don’t have any horns either. T-The other Ecologists never _teased_ me for it, but I do get a lot of looks from outsiders. They never say anything, not to my face anyway, but...”

“But you can hear them behind your back.”

A long stare of understanding passed between them until Lindar caught sight of Delbin, who averted eye contact in response. The blue horologist adopted a concerned tone, making the painter start in surprise when he spoke. “Hey Del? I think the kid’s in good hands here; how about you—”

**_BOOM!_ **

All three dragons jumped at not only the unexpected noise but the intense tremors that accompanied it, causing several clocks to rattle in place although none fell off much to Lindar’s relief. When a second round of explosions echoed outside, the horologist sped to the front door, Delbin and Nico right on his heels.

Only to receive the shock of his life the moment he opened the door, eyes going wide.

“WHAT THE F—"

**XXX**

“—UDGE IS GOING ON IN HERE?!”

Spyro had faced all sorts of crazy sights throughout his (so far) short life: body-slamming dogs, evil cat warlocks, Gnorc witch doctors, hostile tiki carvings, rock bomb-tossing mummies, pigs with rocket backpacks – and that’s just off the top of his head. Amazing how worldly a few adventures can make you.

No wonder a paint-splattered library under assault from a flying book didn’t faze him for long – both dragon and dragonfly ducked under an explosive torrent that left the shelf and books behind a sickly-sweet pink – although a flying _rainbow-barfing_ book was certainly more...colorful. PFFFT.

“SPYRO! THIS WAY!”

Oh right, bad time for puns. Spyro and Sparx raced over to Oswin who’d taken shelter on one of the library’s lower levels and ducked beside him. The turbaned dragon blasted a few capture spells in retaliation between attacks even though his opponent proved too agile.

“Oswin!” Spyro paused at the multitude of colors coating most of the older dragon’s body like he’d lost a battle against Gildas, Delbin, _and_ Nevin’s paint supplies. The small drake and Sparx reared their heads back with taken back expressions. “Uh...?”

“The feeling – GAH – is mutual, believe me! I just got back from – OH MY – home after doing a thorough test on the fake one for any hexes or curses. I couldn’t find any, so I thought perhaps his thievery served as a distraction for something he left behind here!”

Spyro pulled a face. “That is _weirdly_ specific.”

“And would require an unprecedented level of cunning,” Oswin continued without catching onto the youth’s suspension of disbelief, “something that hadn’t occurred to me until I noticed something odd on the book I put back in!”

Dawning dread dropped like lead into Spyro and Sparx’s stomachs as they alternated stares between Oswin, their assailant, and the noticeable gap in a nearby shelf they only noticed now. “Lemme guess,” Spyro droned with the same enthusiasm reserved for his yearly flu shots from Beast Makers as he peeked his head over the edge, “it went splatter-happy the moment you touched it.”

Oswin’s head popped right next to them. “Precisely! I could un-enchant the blasted thing if only it would only stop moving, never mind regurgitating every hue imaginable at me.”

Stop eh? A bold smirk formed on Spyro’s snout. “We just gotta distract it? No sweat!”

Sparx had a strong hunch that he hoped for his wings’ sake would be wrong. “BBBBB-B-Bzzt b-b-bzzt?” (Aaaaand how are we going to do that?)

Instead of an answer, Spyro launched himself towards the offending literature amidst Oswin’s pleas to be careful. “Hey, paperback! Why don’t ya try a moving target?”

As planned, the book ceased its assault and turned his way. It angled itself as though in curiosity before flopping up and down in place with something akin to a happy chirp. This behavior confused Spyro until a viscous stream of pink rocketed his way, forcing him to bob and weave. Good thing his opponent had less than stellar aim.

“Ha, is that the best you’ve got?!”

Sparx, realizing this plan could work with minimal damage, got in on the action by fluttering right above the book to disorient its focus further. Before long, Oswin managed to weave a capture spell net not only strong enough to contain the book, sending it plummeting to the floor helpless, but small enough to keep its trap shut as well.

A smugly grinning Spyro trotted up to their defeated enemy. “Too easy!”

Though relieved, Oswin scratched the side of his head in confusion. “This doesn’t make sense. I put both books through a cursory check for tampering before I left with the fake one. I didn’t detect a thing.”

 _Huh, weird,_ Spyro mused as he pursed his lips. “Maybe it was just hidden too well?”

Although that begged the question of how a simple thief could pull such a stunt off.

“Maybe...or maybe...,” a dawning look of horrified realization took over Oswin, “the thief wasn’t alone like we thought...”

Spyro snorted at the suggestion. “C’mon, there’s no way! It’s not like there was anybody else here besides you and the others. I mean except...” the line of thought caused his grin to drop. “Whoa...whoa, whoa, whoa!” He started to shake his head in denial. “You don’t _seriously_ think that—”

“Of course not!” Oswin retorted, only for his face to contort in worry. “I hope not. All the same, we’d do well to—"

“Bzz-bzzt...? (Uh, guys...?)”

Spyro looked to the apprehensive Sparx who pointed a foreleg, and then to the shuddering, spluttering book rising from the ground along with its prison, the streams of light around them converging into something big. _Gulp_ -sized big.

“Oh. Oh crud.”

Before their eyes, the light took shape, a guttural growl emanating from within. The three backed up as the spectacle increased in size.

“Spyro, Sparx,” Oswin plainly stated, “run.”

The purple dragon shook his head and dropped in a charge-ready stance. “Come on, Oz, I’m sure we can take—HEY!”

Oswin tore out of the library entrance screaming like a madman with a struggling Spyro under one arm and Sparx flitting after them in similar panic. “Take cover!” he screamed.

Darius, who’d been searching one of the outside shelves for a drama, watched in surprise as the trio shot past him. Hmph, what could have gotten into them? Right then, he noticed an iridescent glow fall over him and turned just in time to receive a blast of regurgitated rainbow straight in the face.

Meanwhile, the retreating dragons and dragonfly managed to reach Dark Hollows’ exit and burst out into the hub world. Oswin hit the skies flying, thankful their pursuer was too big to have followed them. Or so he hoped anyway.

“OK, what now?” Spyro called over the rushing wind.

“First we need to notify Nestor of the situation! He’s sure to come up with a plan once he—"

A warning buzz from Sparx barely met Oswin and Spyro’s ears before something rocketed past them, the resultant sight so startling that Oswin almost dropped Spyro. He managed to tighten his grip on the smaller drake just in time to see the rainbow serpent sailing out further ahead.

 _Oh blasted!_ Oswin cursed in his head. _Of course, its body consists of light! Only the **book** would need to squeeze through! _Worse still, upon noticing the direction the beast was headed, shock dragged his stomach even further down.

“Oz?” Spyro asked as he tried to peek around the other Artisan to see where their pursuer went. “What’s wrong?”

A nervous giggle met his question. “Ah nothing, Spyro. Just that everyone in Stone Hill’s day is about take a turn.”

**XXX**

A turn indeed.

Imagine Lindar’s sheer shock after opening his door to not yet another mishap via Spyro as expected but instead a massive neon serpentine dragon gazing blazing-white eyes down upon the land as it barfed sickly cute all over the place, dragons and sheep alike dodging the paint-storm like mad with varying levels of success!

Yeah. Quite a sight, never mind how its glowing body shimmered and crackled, kind of like...fireworks?

Something about that last detail bothered Nico, who narrowed his eyes in suspicion at the marauding creature. “Um, Mr. Lindar?” he squeaked from behind the blue dragon, “Is that supposed to be another surprise for me?”

Lindar could only shake his head, dumbstruck. “If it is, then I’ve got some words for whoever thought _that_ eyesore up.”

As if it heard him, the beast just so happened to turn their way and notice them. Oh boy.

Eyes wide, the clockmaker gulped and shut the door without question. Delbin pulled him and Nico away right before the rainbow beam annihilated the door a second later and left half the room coated in cyan and purple, clocks included. Before a gaping Lindar could lament the cosmetic damage, everyone ducked against the wall and out of the front windows’ view once they noticed the serpent not only right outside but bending down to peer inside.

For a few tense moments, they held their breath...until the beast huffed in satisfaction and left at last.

Too, too close. The group let off a collective sigh of relief.

“OK,” Lindar voiced in eerie clam as he clapped his hands together, “for real: what the _hell_ is happening?!”

“Maybe some sort of attack!” Delbin blurted out. His tone and face changed at Lindar and Nico’s skeptical faces, and he returned a nervous chuckle. “Albeit a very creative one?”

Another boom echoed in the distance alongside the resultant cries for help, everything in the house rattling only a little this time yet leaving the group no less on edge.

“W-What now?” Nico asked tremulously, “We should do something to help, right?!”

“Kid, I would _love_ nothing more than to help everybody out there,” Lindar answered, “but gallivanting outside won’t do any good with that thing taking pot shots at us.”

Plus, no telling where everyone else could be in all this craziness. If they were smart, either they were taking shelter where that living lightshow couldn’t see them, or they booked it to the exit. Either way, someone had to stay behind to ensure the others still here were safe, especially the baby dragons.

Lindar pointed an index finger at the back of his home and shop. “You two take the back door. You can use the tunnels to sneak out to Artisans and get backup.”

“What about you?” Nico asked with a worried frown.

Lindar shook his head. “If we’re gonna take it down our best bet’s in teamwork and strategy,” he peeked out the window for a second, “and maybe a rain shower. I’ll stay behind to make sure everyone else is OK. Once you guys return to Artisans, find Nestor.”

Nico opened his mouth to propose an alternative, only for Delbin to stop him with a hand on the shoulder. At his relative’s firm yet gentle expression, the younger dragon acquiesced with a resigned sigh and ‘yes sir’.

After Lindar wished them luck, uncle and nephew left the house and navigated to one of the tunnels, taking cover behind anything in reach whenever the serpent even came close to looking their way. In a few minutes, they reached their destination at last, breathing out in relief once they noticed the beast never followed them. So good, so far.

Delbin straightened up with an optimistic grin. “Huh, that was easy. C’mon, kiddo, let’s get out there and find some—”

Before he could take a step forward, Oswin came bursting out the sky and slammed clean into the larger dragon, sending them both clean off their feet! Without skipping a beat, Oswin picked himself up straight after, panic written all over his face.

“HELP! HELP IS HERE EVERY—!”

Nico’s hand clamped the librarian’s mouth shut, accompanied by a hasty shush before the boy moved to help his uncle back up. Both he and Delbin noticed Spyro touch down a moment later, followed by Sparx and (thank Mother Serpent) Nestor.

“Well like you said,” Nico meekly chuckled as he gestured a hand to the new arrivals, “easy.”

Nestor stepped forward while his eyes traced the two red dragons for injuries. “Is everyone alright?”

“If by ‘alright’ you mean still in our respective palettes,” Delbin held back commenting on Oswin’s color-splatted appearance, “then yeah. Spyro, _please_ tell me you had a hand in this.” At least in that case, the painter could wrap his head around the madness at hand.

The small drake shot his elder an unamused half-lidded glare. Another explosion echoed from far off before he could retort.

Knowing they had little time for arguments, Nestor stepped in. “We ran into Darius and the others from Dark Hollow on the way here and the worst they’ve are a few bruises. We need to figure out how to stop this thing before it starts causing serious damage.” He turned to Oswin. “You said the book the thief from earlier tried to steal was hexed, correct?”

“That’s right! I managed to scan the book and whatever enchantments were cast on it the moment it started moving on its own but right before it started it’s barrage on me. This is the influence of multiple spells at once under the influence of a strong amplification charm, hence why this thing’s been so erratic and hard to wrangle!”

Nico cocked his head. “And those spells are...”

“Animation like I mentioned, a binding hex because otherwise the third would have slipped off but last and more importantly a heart-peering spell!”

Delbin’s brow furrowed. “Heart-peering?”

“It’s a little complicated but in short it’s an incantation to make your darkest feelings and insecurities manifest.” Oswin took a moment to register his own words. “Don’t think the irony’s lost on me. Anyway, it only triggers if someone with personal secrets gets close enough.”

Spyro reared back on his haunches to throw a foreclaw up. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! You mean if whoever set it off fesses up to something embarrassing, it’ll stop, right?”

When Oswin nodded back, Sparx pulled a bewildered face. “Bzzt, bzz-bzzt b-b-b-bzz-bzz-bzzt. (Huh, weird way to stop an enemy.)”

Spyro had to agree, but hey if it works, it works. He just then noticed the uncomfortable looks on Delbin, Nestor, and especially Nico’s faces. Then he remembered his revelation with Oswin back in the library and the expression spread to him. Looks like Nico and even Delbin caught on, too...or at least to an extent.

Regardless, Spyro refused to let the drop in mood get to him. He stood up tall on all fours, face resolute. “OK, so Nicks here set off the goofiest-looking trap this side of the Realms. Big deal. All we gotta do is trap it like we’d trap you” – he gestured to Nico – “get ya to spill yer heart a little and problem solved!”

Hearing this helped Nico shake off his discomfort in favor of something akin to hope. “Y-Yeah, yeah! Exactly!”

“So...how _would_ we trap you?”

A heck of a question, that one. Nico rubbed his nape. “I guess...putting one of the Ecologists in danger would work.” Except the others were all the way back home and the only other one who could qualify was elsewhere. That method sucked anyway. “Or hearing someone in need. I always _did_ find resisting the urge to help hard.”

 _Don’t we know?_ Spyro quipped to himself.

Nestor crossed his arms. “And since this creature’s abilities center around bombarding everyone and everything with color...” The Artisan leader trailed off with purpose as he, Spyro, Sparx, and Nico all shifted their attention to Delbin, who realized his unwanted role as indicated by his bemoan and droop.

“Fine. I’ll be the bait. So I guess all we gotta do now is hunt down our target and—”

**WHOOSH!**

There it was. Air rushed over them as the serpent shot by overhead, making ground towards the Artisans hub world fast.

Delbin squinted, swearing he wasn’t seeing right. “Wait, is it going _back_ already?”

“B-B-B-B-Bzzt b-b-bzz-bzz-bzz-bzzt? (And is it just me or it did look upset?)”

Various nods met Sparx’s baffling observation after Spyro translated.

“Nestor!” a familiar accented voice called from above. Eleanor and Gavin touched down behind the group, having noticed the gathering mid-flight. While their color damage didn’t compare to Oswin’s, a few splotches dotted the orange dragon’s clothing and the barista’s apron and hair.

Their leader regarded them with a tentative frown. “Are you two alright?”

Gavin waved away his leader’s concern. “We’re fine. Ellie and I were just closing up shop when that thing showed up out of nowhere and started beaning everyone with paint bombs! Half of Stone Hill’s an abstract painting by now! Lucky for us Lindar showed up and distracted it! We managed to get to Stone Hill Castle when we noticed Amanda near one of the doorways helping Argus herd the little ones inside.”

“One of the bombs nearly hit her – don’t worry she’s fine,” Eleanor hastily added at Nestor’s alarmed expression, only to blush, “but my temper may have gotten the best of me because I...might have flown up to its face and told it off.”

Spyro couldn’t help but snort, not out of derision but rather a sense of awe. He was seeing the jeweler in a whole new light. “For real?”

“Definite real and you want to know the oddest thing? When I told it to stop and leave us all alone, it actually listened and flew away!”

A cringe shot through Nico, unnoticed by Eleanor and Gavin but not the others. _Yep, definitely me._

Nestor noticed and lowered his voice into a softer tone to match his expression. “If you don’t want to do this, we still have time to revise.”

For a moment, Nico almost brought himself to say yes. After all this effort to prove himself to the others, what if revealing his insecurities—no, no he couldn’t afford to think that way. He had to see this through! Intentional or not, this beast came about through his actions. He shook his head and presented a (he hoped) resolute face to Nestor. “No, you heard Mr. Oswin. If this is the only way, I’ll play my part.”

No matter how unpleasant doing so would be.

Seeing the boy’s resolve, Nestor nodded before waving his group to step on the exit pad. “Then we don’t have much time. Eleanor, Gavin, go help Lindar round up whoever’s left and get them to the castle in case that creature comes back. The rest of you, it’s time to put our plan into action – and I know exactly who can assist us in setting it up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference pictures of my OCs:
> 
> Artisans - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs
> 
> Peace Keepers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs
> 
> Magic Crafters - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs
> 
> Ecologists - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs
> 
> Beast Makers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs
> 
> Dream Weavers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs


	8. Strangers Like Me - Part 3

By now word of the strange creature had spread throughout all of Artisans, meaning about everyone had already taken shelter. As a result, when the marauding rainbow flew over the hub world once again, not a single soul remained in sight.

Save for one lone dragon standing before the portal to Town Square.

"Oh help. Somebody please help me," Delbin recited loud and clear in the most resigned tone he could physically manage. Sweet magic, he felt like a fool. If any consolation existed, his performance drew the creature to his location. _Time for Phase 2 then,_ Delbin mused as he dove through the portal and then took off flying for the center plaza.

His pursuer followed not far behind thanks to its speed. However, all further thoughts of chase drew to a screeching halt once the destination came into view –along with the most gorgeous sight the rainbow serpent ever witnessed in its short life: a haphazard assortment of plain clay pots, scattered all over the cobblestone floor and ripe for decoration. Some empty wooden tables and various other party décor marked the surrounding area as well, but they mattered little by comparison.

How could one resist? Somehow glowing up even more at this joyous opportunity, the beast darted over and proceeded to scatter splatter bombs all over the pots (and virtually everything else in range by proxy) in utter glee! So caught up in the task, it never noticed the peach-palette dragon stepping out from behind a nearby wall.

For a moment, Nico stood there in hesitant silence, watching the serpent let loose with such relish that part of him questioned doing this at all, only to grimace the thought. This thing was nothing short of a nuisance; if Nico wanted to prove himself to the Artisans, he'd have to be brave.

Steeling himself, he puffed his chest and let out a resounding "HEY!"

The serpent ceased his mess and turned towards the young adult with curious eyes, wondering what he could want.

 _Now or never,_ Nico mused before breathing in. "You're being rude and disrespectful of everyone's property so if you know what's best for yourself, you'll stop this and leave like the well-mannered firework-paint-dragon thing your family raised you to be!"

No response other than a blank stare. Nico felt his will start to fumble.

"And, uh, ask for permission first and...?" His peripherals caught Spyro, hidden behind another nearby wall, gesturing him to keep going. "A-And apologize for making such a mess in the first place?"

For a moment, the serpent stood there, giving Nico momentary hope his words worked after all – until its head lowered so that the creature loomed right in his face! He had to step back to avoid falling backwards in surprise, not to mention shield his eyes from the close-up brightness. OK, this was both not working and straight out awkward.

Without warning, the serpent shrugged in easy disinterest and rose back up to resume its nonsense. At this sight, Nico balked and scrambled for anything else to say. Oh no, no-no-no, he couldn't let his efforts end like this! There had to be something (anything) that could —

The truth. Only the truth would stop this madness. He had to stop beating around the bush and hit himself where it hurt. No other choice.

Eyelids clenched and hands balled, he screamed. "NO ONE WANTS YOU!"

That. That got the serpent's attention, the shock on its face as it looked back at its creator palpable.

Fighting back the lump in his throat, Nico forced himself to continue, eyes still closed. "No one wants your help. No one wants you around. You think you're giving everyone what they want when all you do is frustrate everyone and get in their way. It'd be best for everybody if you just left."

At these words, the serpent's face fluctuated from shock to denial and finally to hurt, its eyes a perfect reflection of the young dragon's emotions.

"T-There's no point in you...so just disappear."

A deep whimper filled the air alongside a resounding crack. Opening his tearing eyes, Nico traced the sound to the creature's tail, where cracks formed and started to spread all across its body, the noise rising in intensity as the beast remained where it hovered, never breaking eye contact with Nico until the cracks consumed it at last and it collapsed into numerous iridescent shards that glittered out of existence upon touching the ground.

A smatter of tears joined them.

Without a thought, he dashed for the exit pad, not trusting his watery vision for a longtime flight back to the mainland. Familiar voices crying out his name sounded muffled in his ears and grew distant as he barreled through and recontinued his hurried retreat out to the dock.

Once he reached the wooden planks, the soft red dragon rubbed his eyes to do away with the encroaching tears faster. His plan only succeeded in smearing the saltwater all over his face. Soon Nico reached the end of the pier and sat down with his legs dangling down and feet shy of the water.

An indiscriminate amount of time passed as he sat there doing his best to recollect himself.

"Hey."

Every bit of willpower left banded together to save him from jolting off his perch and into the water! Nico managed to still himself and twisted his upper torso to discover Spyro and Sparx a few feet behind him, the former head-pushing in front of him—

"Is that basket in your mouth full of danishes?"

" _Peach_ danishes!" Spyro sidled his eyes in wonder. "Made outta something Devlin calls mar-zee-pan. He squeezed in time to whip 'em up after we finished my mess from earlier. We were gonna surprise you with a welcome party but," he offered a sheepish half-smile, "ya know."

Despite himself, Nico managed a meager smile. "Thank you. I'm sorry I messed your plans up. It sounds like you all went through a lot of trouble for my sake."

Spyro came to the older dragon's side, shoving the basket between them, and plopped down while Sparx took a rest atop his friend's head. "C'mon, you didn't mess anything up. Whoever booby-trapped that random book messed up. I mean, you'd have to be an idiot to think up a trap anyone could have opened!"

 _Lucky me then,_ Nico thought with a sullen frown as he dug into the basket to feed himself. Good chance as any to eat away his misery.

Spyro took two for himself and Sparx, not really hungry but not wanting to sit around doing nothing. His mind rewound over today's events. "Hey, who do you think rigged it anyway?"

Nico polished off his danish and reached for a second. "Does it matter? This happened on _my_ watch which means you guys have reason enough to not like me, let alone trust me, so—DAH!" He snatched his hand back to cover his newly wetted ear, face the perfect picture of disgust. A turn left at Spyro revealed the smirking younger dragon holding up a moist forefinger. "Did...you just give me a _wet willy_?"

"Want me ta supersize it?"

Nico grunted in further repulsion before swiping away the lingering slobber out of his ear.

"Dude look," Spyro got serious as he lowered his hand, "you love helping people: cool! You love it so much that sometimes you can't take no for an answer: not so cool but you can learn to back off when someone doesn't want it! It's not the end of the world."

To Spyro's surprise, Nico released a bitter chuckle. "What difference is there that it isn't? Chances are Miss Sofia and Mr. Nestor will never let me come back here anyway, even just to keep me safe." Hell, Sofia might never let him leave their homeworld at all after this debacle. "I thought if I could prove useful in some way, even a little, you guys would want me around."

"What if I wanted you around, too?" Spyro blurted in full honesty. When Nico gaped at him in shock, the smaller drake pushed onward. "I can't speak for Nestor and the others, but after everything he told me about you guys, I wanted to prove how awesome I could be!"

Really? Nico found that statement hard to believe, especially the last part. "No offense, but there'd be no point in doing that. I already know what you're capable of thanks to all the stories my clan and I heard from other people."

While hearing what big a deal he'd become through his adventures would have boosted his pride any other time, Spyro cared more about making his point heard. "Yeah, but you guys are all scientists building a buncha cool inventions! Why _wouldn't_ I wanna show off to you?"

This younger dragon's definition of scientist could use some broadening. Still Nico couldn't deny how much the sentiment flattered him, evidenced by his disbelieving chuckle as he rubbed his forearm. "Because there's no reason to impress me. Miss Sofia and the others are the _real_ scientists. I'm just an assistant really into fireworks and art. There's nothing special about me."

Ouch, a grimacing Sparx knew that last sentence would hit a little too close to home for Spyro. However, his friend surprised them both with his next words.

"I used to think the same."

What? Nico shot a disbelieving gaze and moved to protest but Spyro beat him to the punch.

"I know, I know. That sounds weird from somebody who beat three Big Bads in a row, but I had a lotta trouble learning what the other Artisans taught me." He scoffed in playful jest. "Heh, you think that mess in Devlin's kitchen looked bad, you should've seen my duet with Tomas. I shattered every window in Stone Hill that day!"

Despite himself, Nico couldn't force down a bewildered huff.

"No joke! Plus, I've got a _slight_ penchant for getting in a little over my head sometimes." Spyro disregarded Sparx's knowing smirk. "But I kept trying and trying to find something I'm good at no matter how many times I sucked. Can't lie, it all got to me sometimes," the purple dragon's eyes fell into light melancholy as they shifted to the full moon high above the horizon, "made me wonder if I deserved to be an Artisan."

Suddenly the other half of their argument from the kitchen clicked. Nico craned his head, face soft and apologetic. "I wasn't trying to put you down back then. Honest."

Spyro swiveled his head back his way, upbeat again. "Dude, I believe you, don't sweat it! Heck, me and Sparx here wanted to hang out with you before all this craziness went down."

They were? Taken by utter surprise, Nico turned away for a second to mull over this reveal. "We're more or less hanging out now. I don't have anything that might interest you, though." Aside from maybe the book, which he just remembered to be in the side pocket of his jacket and thus pulled out. "Except for maybe this."

Spyro craned his neck out to better see the title, Sparx flitting out beside him to do the same. Fireworks, huh? Looked pretty cool to them!

"Before you ask, I didn't pick this solely for the subject. I was hoping to get some ideas for my next project. My goal is to become a luminist."

Huh, that's a new word. Spyro tilted his head. "A lumi-what?"

"Light artist. It means I take brightness and play with it for certain effects. Think of it like painting through light. I could use bulbs, LEDs, even computer monitors, anything that illuminates is fair game but I'm hoping to create something that lets me bypass the need for materials and cut straight to...well, the art. Essentially taking light and painting outright like _I'm_ the brush."

A moment passed as Spyro and Sparx stared, their blankness rendering Nico more awkward the longer it went on. Right as the older dragon thought to switch topics, he heard the craziest sentence ever.

"That has gotta be the _coolest_ thing I've ever heard."

Nico blushed yet made no effort to hide his smile. "C-C'mon, you don't have to flatter me." After all, the younger dragon had to have seen far cooler stuff on his adventures.

"And what if I am?" Spyro retorted, "I've never even _heard_ of art like that and I wanna see some!" A cheery buzz marked Sparx's agreement.

Nothing at this point could stop Nico's wide grin. "Really? Well, if that's what you want, I have a friend over in another world who exchanges ideas with me from time to time. I can introduce you guys." He doubled back. "Th-That is as long as you don't mind, of course!"

"You mean like going over to your homeworld?"

The older dragon shrugged. They'd have the easiest time by going through there first, so yes. Spyro startled him when he jumped to his feet, almost knocking the basket into the water.

"Heck yeah!"

"R-Really?!" Nico, who barely managed to save the danishes with Sparx's help, cleared his throat to still his excitement. "I mean, awesome! I'd just need to run the idea by Mr. Nestor and Ms. Sofia and see if they approve." He shrank into himself somewhat. "Court's still out if they will, though."

Spyro fist-bumped him in the arm. "Aw, c'mon! I've caused _way_ worse than this! Besides, you've already got Nestor eating out of your hands with all your nice guy stuff. Just bat your eyes and he'll be saying yes in a heartbeat! No problem!"

**XXX**

"Problems, problems, problems, _so_ many problems."

"Alvar, love, you've been saying that all the way here."

"And I'll keep saying it until everyone sees the severity of all this, Devlin!"

All the adult Artisans were sitting around in Gavin's café for an impromptu meeting at news of the creature's demise courtesy of Lindar, Eleanor, and Gavin spreading the word. Alvar had dived straight into bemoaning tonight's events the moment he stepped inside. Everyone had agreed in silence to let the grouchy butcher vent his feelings out for a minute.

It was now a minute.

Lindar popped his gums and gestured to his color-splattered self. "The severity is literally all over us, buddy. Not much to see beyond that."

"I beg to differ," Oswin voiced. Alvar perked at someone agreeing with him, only to deflate at the next statement. "It's going to take us at least a _week_ to get the colors out of everything, even with the proper cleaning spells!"

Nestor cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention, as he stood in the center of the café. "I believe what Alvar is referring to is the security breach from earlier. We need to compile all available evidence to better discern not only the culprits but their motives."

The carpenter stuck an index finger skyward. "First things first, the matter of the thief who snuck in that the fake book. Oswin and I caught him while we were outside the library discussing plans for Nicolas' welcome party. No doubt he snuck in from behind while the boy and I first entered."

"We originally assumed he meant to prank us by switching out the books," Oswin added. "They've done that before we had the return spell installed, and they stopped once they realized it wouldn't work anymore."

Tomas pursed his lips in thought, cradling his lute in wonder. "What convinced you otherwise then?"

"I surmise the fact that the thief somehow procured a near-perfect copy of said book," Carmen spoke up as she tapped her chin with one hand and cupped the corresponding elbow in the other. "That would imply they somehow snuck in long enough to take enough pictures from all angles. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to make a mock-up, regardless of whether they constructed it via either magic _or_ tech."

A haughty scoff drew all attention to Alban. "That's impossible."

"Not as impossible as you might think. Keep in mind, Amanda, Eleanor, and I have been among the Ecologists so we've seen ways one could pull such a stunt off."

The feathered scribe raised an eye ridge in an almost challenging manner. "Such as?"

"Like say a miniature machine capable of operating like I described as well as stealth. An Ecologist named Madison demonstrated one of them to me, though I doubt they're the same model since hers are kept tight under lock and key. In addition, a few of the group's inventions can scan brainwaves, at basis meaning they can read minds and thus provide this incantation a basis."

 _Uh oh,_ Lindar thought in bleak expectation. _I can see where **this** is going._

Nestor and Oswin grimaced as well. Though they doubted it to be Carmen's intention, they noticed the suspicion and conclusions starting to spark in the other Artisans' eyes, and judging by Amanda and Eleanor's guarded expressions, they'd noticed the same.

"Okay, so somebody planned ahead enough to whip up a fake and duped Nestor and Oswin into taking it," Lindar piped up in an impatient tone, "What about after?"

A reluctant sigh left Oswin. "After that Nico came out to investigate what happened since the thief bumped into him on the way out. We let him peruse the library until he found the book he wanted and then he and Nestor left."

Tomas cocked his head. "Wait, you mean he was alone in the same room as the thief and came out _after_ him?"

Nestor crossed his arms. "Yes," he answered in a warningly low tone, "and he never left my side since until Delbin took over to take him to Sunny Flight." His dark eyes briefly met those of the dragon in question, who held back a gulp at the green dragon's pointed 'we'll talk about this later' stare.

The stance and tone of voice his leader led Tomas to hold his hands up in placating defense. He was only stating facts is all.

Argus turned to Oswin. "And what of you?

"I stayed in the library for a few minutes to scan both books for hexes. The results came up negative, but that didn't rule out the possibility of something more subtle, so I took the fake home with me to examine it further."

"I can vouch for that," Darius spoke up, "Just before Oswin left for home, he tailed me down and asked if I could watch over the library in his absence. I spent all the time he'd been gone inside."

"It took me a half a minute to find him if I remember right."

"And barely more than that to station myself there."

Lindar scratched the back of his head at the information so far. "Okay, what if someone was fast enough to sneak in between the time Ozzy here left and Darius came in?"

Various levels of disbelief colored the other Artisan's faces. "That could only have been about a mere minute," Argus commented in both wonder and confusion, "Even we Artisans know a proper spell like that takes time. No one can move that fast."

"Not by natural means, no," Oswin corrected in a grave voice.

A heavy veil of silence descended, only ending when Tomas gulped in fear. "You mean like...dark magic?"

Oswin was quick to wave his hands. "Oh heavens no! That would've been obvious from _miles_ around! On the contrary, the only magic I detected upon my return had been on the book itself, meaning if this collaborator hadn't used any spells to sneak in and out at such speed—"

Memories of Sofia's first appearance at the meeting flashed through Nestor's mind. "Then they used technology to teleport," he concluded with solemn revelation. The ensuing silence thickened even more.

Until Alvar's harrumph broke it this time. "Well, that's this case closed then."

"Alvar," Devlin warned in instant response as he shot a pointed glare at him, "don't you _dare_ imply it."

"Who said anything about implying? We all know the timing is too perfect! That boy's the only one who fits the bill!"

The banana-yellow investigator of the group sent an unconvinced look at Alvar. "Is he though?"

"Don't be daft, Carmen," Alban scoffed, "The only other ones who dabble in machines in any capacity are the Beast Makers and they use nothing of the sort; even if they did, history shows that their ties with the Ecologists were friendly even in the worst of times."

Argus set one hand akimbo and the other beneath his chin, humming in thought. "None of the non-draconic residents ever showed such an aptitude either, never mind the Gnorcs."

"Well, whoever is responsible for this bedlam," Nevin cut in, "they did a fine job scaring everyone!"

Carmen stroked her chin and angled her eyes to the moon as though she could glean all necessary answers from there. "That's another thing. Perhaps it wasn't meant to scare us but rather Nico."

Wait, what? All the other dragons looked to her in utter perplexity. Tomas reared his head. "With a gorgeous yet obnoxious rainbow spewer?"

Oswin snapped his fingers, realizing where the yellow dragon was coming from. "Keep in mind how the heart-peering spell works. It only took that form because _Nico_ triggered it. In fact, he mentioned seeing it glow right before the thief dashed off. That must have been its means of drawing a target closer. If he _had_ concocted this scheme, he would have taken measures to avoid setting it off himself in the first place!"

"Exactly!" Carmen concurred. She took a step towards Nestor while her eyes perused the other Artisans, imploring them to follow her train of thought. "Now imagine if one of us – namely those who'd had qualms about Nico visiting –had been in his place. For all we know, the perpetrator might have thought him to be part of our clan instead."

Alvar sputtered at a loss for words while Alban frowned at the unsaid yet pointed accusation.

"When you put it that way," Gavin voiced as he shared a significant look with Eleanor, "we owe the kid one."

Knowing himself beat, Alban sighed in partial resignation. "Fine. Let's say the boy _wasn't_ responsible. Use of technology still doesn't rule out an Ecologist's involvement. After all, their leader could have set the boy up."

Eleanor scowled at such a preposterous suggestion and would have likely clocked the elder dragon, too, if not for Gavin holding her back. "Sofia would _never_ have approved of this! She and her clan love Nico more than anything; there's no way she'd put him at risk like that!"

Carmen crossed her arms, one finger tapping her elbow. "True, so allow me to postulate this: if this _were_ an Ecologist, couldn't this have been one neither Sofia _nor_ Nico anticipated?"

For the third time tonight, stunned silence followed. Carmen set both hands behind her back and waited patiently as the pieces offered by her argument fell into place.

"You mean like a rogue perhaps?" Nils asked in wonder.

"More specifically, a _disgruntled_ rogue. One who shares similar vehemence on the Ecologists' reintegration. If so, the motive to scare away Nicolas from future interactions with us would fit all the more."

Indeed it would, they all realized as the possibility sunk in. While a whole new slew of questions now lay open, for the moment Nestor would accept this as progress. "In that case, we'll all need to remain on high alert for similar goings-on. In the meantime, I'll notify Sofia and the other leaders so their clans can do the same."

And practice caution for when the Ecologists visited them as well. Despite the madcap way this scheme had culminated, tonight's debacle pointed to something potentially serious.

"From now, report all suspicious activity to either me or your subregion's leader. Carmen is also an option since she will need whatever information necessary to identify and keep tabs on these troublemakers."

Nestor hung back to let his fellow clan members stew in his words. Assent soon passed amongst the Artisans in the form of murmurs and nods. However, one voice in particular brought up a question concerning a point no one had noticed until now.

"Hang on," Gildas craned his head back and forth, "anybody seen Spyro and Sparx?"

Everyone else except Oswin, Delbin, and Nestor stiffened at the elder painter's observation. Where _were_ those boys?

"Oh right," Delbin spoke up, "They went off after Nico earlier once we got everything settled." At the expense of one young adult's emotional comfort no less. Oof, Delbin and Nestor intended to make it up to Nico once he returned. The painter noticed Alban and Alvar's rare looks of concern. "Hey, you haven't met the kid yet; besides, we all know Spyro and Sparx can handle themselves!"

Right on cue, playful taunts echoed as none other than the purple dragon himself barreled out the tunnel from the dock, Sparx by his side while Nico straggled behind in exhaustion. Neither young dragon seemed emotionally worse for wear judging by the usual excited grin on Spyro's face and exasperated yet more amused one on Nico's.

 _Seems **their** talk went well,_ Nestor mused in relief that shifted into amusement as Spyro skid to a stop beside him and shot a triumphant grin over his shoulder at Nico.

"Come _on_! Were you even trying back there?"

The Ecologist-Artisan stumbled to a stop once he closed the distance and bent down to regain his breath, hands on knees. "I-I was," he huffed, "That's the problem." A glance up revealed their company and he hastily bowed his head. "H...Hello, everyone. Did we interrupt something?"

At first Nestor opened his mouth to confirm, only to reflect over today's events. He shook his head and gave the boys an assuring smile instead. For now these kids deserved a break. "We'll tell you all later. For now, how about a second take on that welcome party?"

"You sure? After all this?"

Lindar waltzed up and draped an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, us Artisans are hardier than ya think!" Never mind the appropriateness of them falling under attack by art of all things. "As if a little paint's enough to keep us down!"

Best not to point out the euphemism in that statement. All the same Nico took in Lindar's confident smirk, Spyro and Sparx's cheery grins, and Nestor's assuring smile along with the other Artisans whose expressions ranged from wholehearted agreement to (in the case of some) exaggerated reluctance and smiled in return.

At Nestor's beckon, everyone journeyed to Town Square to salvage what remained of the party decorations. On the way, Nico found himself amidst jubilant conversations, content with listening to all the ideas and creativity spouting around him.

For once, he started to feel like a fellow Artisan.

**XXX**

_IDIOT! You got the wrong target!_

_Hey, not my fault you guys all look the same!_

_Grr._

_OKAY, OKAY! I admit that was in bad taste! I'm sorry!_

_Ugh, no matter. Here is your pay, now begone, you little urchin._

The thief gladly did so.

_Heh heh, looks like your little scheme went belly up._

_Not to worry. We have plenty more backup plans. Speaking of which, I have a task for you, Ripto._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference pictures of my OCs:
> 
> Artisans - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs
> 
> Peace Keepers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs
> 
> Magic Crafters - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs
> 
> Ecologists - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs
> 
> Beast Makers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs
> 
> Dream Weavers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs


	9. Too Sweet

Cliff Town.

If this world could attribute its fame to anything, that honor would either go to the vast desert at its western borders, the river of violet tar cutting through it, or the local tavern run by Halvor.

Considering two of these had a pesky habit of cutting life expectancies, you could probably guess which of the three folks enjoyed most and not only for that. For all its dusty weather-worn exterior, the tavern provided such a perfect blend of warm and inviting and rustic inside that one’d be damned to keep a sour mood there.

Damned be Magnus then.

The usually boisterous warrior sat atop his stool leaned over the bar, strong arms supporting the bulk of the heavyset dragon whose face bore a pensive expression. Even after Halvor returned with his ordered drink and departed, Magnus had only gone as far as two sips before staring down into the amber ale, swirling it every so often. Something weighed on his mind and the homey atmosphere of this place could not hope to quell it.

“A little surprising to see you by yourself after that last raid.”

Magnus stole a peek from his peripherals at Gunnar, who stood over him with his extraordinarily toothy maw set in a familiar smile. He didn’t bother to return the smile and instead shifted his eyes back to mimicking whirlpools in his cup.

Silence from Magnus of all people? Usually the sumo fighter spoke his mind without hesitation so him being so mum meant serious business. Gunnar cast a concerned frown as he took a seat beside his comrade. “Okay fess up, Mags. What’s eating ya: young ones get uppity again; see something that bugged ya; worried about the others?” The glare tossed his way did not alter his smirk. “I can do this all day, buddy.”

 _Ugh,_ Magnus griped. Unless he wanted to sit through a litany of annoying questions, there was no other way out of this. The portly dragon huffed smoke out his nose and tilted his head back, eyes closed.

“The Ecologists are visiting us next.”

Cue two blinks from Gunnar. His face reflected curiosity but he nodded to show understanding. Titan notified all Peace Keepers of this news after returning from a leaders’ meeting the other day, so why did Magnus feel the need to point it out? What about it bothered him?

On cue, Magnus hung his head back down with a sigh. “Think about it. We’re practically slapping a big red target over our hindquarters doing this.” He held up a hand at Gunnar’s disapproving frown and incoming retort. “This isn’t me pulling the ‘oh those heretics’ spiel” – he even threw in a faux posh accent on that phrase for effect, a faint smile present – “heh, I ain’t that old fart Cosmos ya know.”

Good to know. Gunnar scoffed in good nature. At least his good pal hadn’t lost his sense of humor.

“It’s just after what happened in Artisans, there’s no telling if the precautions we’re setting up will be enough, ya know?”

And make no mistake, the Peace Keepers had gone all out on those precautions: bidaily sweeps of the hub and branch worlds, consistent flyover surveillance on the outer reaches of their regions for suspicious activity, guards around all key points of dragon interest with rotations, heck even inviting one of the Magic Crafters to run a triple check for hexed items because nobody wanted what almost happened in Artisans – or at least a reading rainbow dragon with no gag control (nobody enjoyed cleaning that much).

Yet even with all this, the Peace Keepers know better than to think their caution is foolproof. A real soldier knows better than to think any caution is foolproof.

This fact of reality, of course, some Keepers took to easier than others.

Gunnar snorted, not unkind but empathetic. “If it’s not, we’ll find another way. That’s how our clan rolls.” At Magnus’ half-attentive nod, he crossed his arms on the table and leaned forward on them. “And if you’re worried over whether not the Ecologist coming over here will be safe with us, need I remind you that they’ll be part Peace Keeper too?” Meaning whoever their guest was would have the advantage of both the strongest and smartest dragon clans in one. A force to be reckoned for sure.

Magnus rolled his eyes. Oh yes, as if he’d _never_ considered that before. Mother Serpent, what did Gunnar take him for?

Fortunately for the chubbier dragon’s pride and sanity, his olive-green comrade got the hint and softened his visage. “But that ain’t the heart of what’s bugging you, is it?”

A statement, not a question. Magnus rubbed his eyes. _Then again,_ he thought ruefully, _my pride and sanity could stand to take a few more hits._

“What you’re thinking about isn’t them but is something that relates to them.” And considering recent events, Gunnar could fathom well. An amused chuckle escaped while Halvor, who knew Gunnar too well as a customer, set a second mug of ale before him. “Not that they wouldn’t be flattered over you worrying over them like this but Athena and Kallisto aren’t exactly dainty flowers.”

Gunnar ducked to miss the halfhearted slug at his head. “OK, not them either then.” Which didn’t leave else to ponder. He raised a hand a curled his fingers forward in a ‘cmon’ gesture. “Help me out here, man.”

Magnus, still glaring, squeezed his eyes shut and huffed a puff of smoke. One moment passed in silence before he reopened them and looked to Gunnar.

“Kai.”

Hearing that name caused the green warrior to roll his eyes in incoming exasperation. “Woo boy, what did your goofball nephew do now?”

Hopefully, nothing that would take more than an hour to clean up.

Magnus kept to himself how Gunnar hadn’t asked how his fretting over the boy related to the Ecologists. Instead he shook his head. “Ain’t so much what he did as much as what he’s turning into.” He caught Gunnar’s look of concern and sharply retorted, “Little guy isn’t turning into his old man! What I mean is,” his dark eyes darted away for a vulnerable second, “he’s turning into the complete opposite.”

So, Kai was turning into a nice guy who looked after others? Gunnar scrunched his face in confusion. How was that problem exactly?

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Look, it’s not that the kid sucks as a fighter. Hell, he’s pretty damn tough!” That last part the chubby reptile admitted with a proud smile.

Gunnar craned his head, expectant. “So, what _is_ the problem?”

The question sent Magnus’ smile downcast in a heartbeat. For a moment, the sumo dragon alternated between nursing his drink and keeping a heavy gaze on the selection of alcohol behind the bar. So many words danced on the tip of his tongue and he despised how he struggled to speak out his mind, least of all about someone he’d looked after for so long.

Without warning, Magnus slammed his cup onto the table, ale sloshing dangerously against the edge. “HE’S TOO INNOCENT AND NICE, DAMN IT!”

There! There, he said it!

Magnus had no qualms with telling people off when necessary. Hell, even Titan couldn’t escape his bluntness when the larger dragon deemed a tongue lashing necessary – but he wasn’t cruel either. He just lacked the knack for emotional sensitivity - which would explain the difficulties that came with raising someone like Kai.

Thank goodness everybody that frequented this tavern was used to roughhousing and outbursts. Otherwise Magnus would have been stuck with more attention than he needed. He took a deep calming breath. “S-Sorry about that. It’s just – the thought of sending someone like that into battle. Do you know how different he is from the other Peacekeepers his age?”

Gunnar perked a brow in amusement. “You mean actually using his head instead of charging headfirst into a fight? Isn’t that a good thing?”

It was. That was the problem.

Magnus dragged a weary hand down his face.

“Even _more_ different than that. Look, when that Rhynoc popped out of nowhere during a patrol last week, the first thing that kid did was wave and try to make friends with him.” Even after all the stories Magnus shared with his nephew about the tragedies that dragons suffered at their hands, about all they lost because of them. That boy truly was his mother’s son – and that scared Magnus the most. “If I sent someone like that into battle, let alone to keep the Ecologist safe, he’d get torn apart in an instant.”

And Magnus couldn’t have that. Not after what happened to the boy’s mother. To his own little sister.

A strong gentle hand grasped his shoulder.

“Hey,” Gunnar waited until Magnus turned his way, “Don’t take this personally but I don’t think you’ve got as full a picture of the kid as you think you do.”

Magnus rolled his eyes. “I’ve raised that little goober for most of his life, Guns. How could I _not_ have a full picture of him by now?”

 _You’d be surprised,_ Gunnar mused with a chuckle. “Cuz he ain’t the same little butterball you used to toss into the air.”

Angry smoke burst from Magnus’ nostrils. That statement did not sit well with him.

Gunnar pat his comrade’s shoulder in assurance. “Just sayin’. People change as they grow up. Not that you’re wrong to feel protective and all – cuz you’re not – but ya gotta let the kid figure out how to do things his way, even if it means watching him sink on his own. Hell, just ask Spyro. Who do you think helped the little guy out during that Gnasty Gnorc nonsense when he and Sparx were getting chased by all those vultures?”

Wait what? While they were all crystallized? For the first time since this conversation started, Magnus shot around to cast a face of utter shock, one that took Gunnar off guard completely.

“He...He never told you?” At the responding head shake, Gunnar stared off into space and released a baffled ‘huh’. “Seems like the sort of thing he’d gush about to you. I only found out cuz I overhead Spyro talking about it with Sparx.” He shrugged. “Since he couldn’t do much to help thanks to that crystal spell, he compensated by helping Spyro strategize how ta trick those vultures into splitting up so he could flame ‘em one by one.”

And since Spyro and Sparx were still around and kicking, one could see how successful that plan proved.

Gunnar scratched his nape in thought. ”Guess Kai told those two to keep what he did between them. Can’t imagine why.”

“I bet I can,” Magnus responded at last in a low voice.

“Hmm?”

Even though the concern did not leave his face, Magnus eased up at this realization. As much as admitting this hurt, Gunnar was right. The little guy…wasn’t so little anymore. He’d only been through a few scouting missions and even one or two battles alongside senior Peace Keepers and had come out fine so far – and the worst his silly nephew ever came back with was a tall tale about how he ‘unleashed epic butt-whoop’.

So far. It was only a matter of time, a matter of time before the kid ran afoul of an enemy or an attack he couldn’t fend back in time and wound up hurt. Just another fact of life for Peace Keepers and one Kai would have to face sooner or later – and the thought scared Magnus senseless.

Discovering his little man already done so in a way, knowing hushed that fear. Not all the way but enough.

“He never helped those two to brag about it to me later like he often does. He helped them because he could. The only one who needs to know what he did is himself and that’s enough for him.” Like a true hero. No words could capture the sheer pride Magnus felt in his heart nor the smile conquering his ruddy face. He’d also have to squeeze in a family talk on self-esteem but that could wait for now. “You’re right: he _is_ coming into his own. He’s still got a long way to go but he’s getting there. It’s still gonna hurt something fierce watching him go up against the world and come back all bruised and scratched up.”

A gentle elbow met his ribcage. “Such is life, buddy. But hey, what makes you think you’re the only one in this guild looking out for the kid?”

Magnus scuffed a fist across his face. As if he could ever (would ever) forget.

Speaking of forget, Gunnar cleared his throat. ”By the way, I just remembered why I came in here looking for you before our little heart-to-heart distracted me.”

“And what’s that?” Magnus asked right before he picked up his drink to take a sip.

Gunner sucked a wincing breath through his teeth. “Kai got stuck in a canyon wall using the bowling ball technique for a game...again. Me and his friends got him out, but you might wanna schedule a refresher course with him sooner rather than later to be safe.”

Mother Serpent save them all. Magnus paused mid-drink and grunted before gulping down and setting his cup back on the table with a resigned sigh. _Why did I teach the boy that move?_

**XXX**

In a shadowy corner against the ceiling, sheltered by the wooden rafters, eight miniscule eyes surveyed the scene below.

_Data acquisition complete._

_Generating profiles..._

_Profiles for Magnus, Gunnar, and Enzo complete._

_Relaying report to mother computer..._

_Relay complete._

_All profiles for Peace Keepers achieved._

_All data for Phase 2 achieved._

_Returning now for further instructions._

A near inaudible whoosh and nothing more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For reference pictures of my OCs:
> 
> Artisans - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927291/artisan-residents-ocs
> 
> Peace Keepers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927292/peace-keeper-residents-ocs
> 
> Magic Crafters - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927294/magic-crafter-residents-ocs
> 
> Ecologists - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1944688/ecologist-residents-ocs
> 
> Beast Makers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927295/beast-maker-residents-ocs
> 
> Dream Weavers - https://www.weasyl.com/~professorrat/submissions/1927289/dream-weaver-residents-ocs


End file.
